CIA Director William Burns has met with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul, according to unnamed US officials cited by the Washington Post and Associated Press.
The meeting came amid the ongoing evacuations at the Kabul airport, the AP source said.
About 16,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, according to the Pentagon, as US troops lead an increasingly desperate effort to airlift thousands more before the Taliban’s “red line” for Western forces to leave the country.
US President Joe Biden is under increasing pressure to extend an August 31 deadline to pull out American forces, with Britain expected to lobby for that at a virtual G7 summit on Tuesday.
A CIA representative said the agency had no comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Biden last week said U.S. troops may stay in Afghanistan past the deadline next week in order to evacuate Americans. read more
On Monday, two Taliban sources told Reuters it would not extend the deadline for Western forces to leave.
