NATO will pull out of Afghanistan when US does, source says
NATO will pull out of Afghanistan when US does, source says
From CNN’s Jennifer Hansler
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization will pull its footprint from Afghanistan when the US withdraws, according to a diplomat familiar with the matter.
The future of the Kabul airport remains tenuous and uncertain, the diplomat said. There are ongoing talks, but the diplomat said if someone does not step in soon, the airport could close. This person has heard that the Qataris may play a role in running the airport.
This diplomat said people on the ground in Kabul are not pleased by President Biden’s decision to stick to the deadline, saying there is “an evident disconnect between the reality and the politics.”
They estimate that tens of thousands of people would be left behind because of the Aug. 31 deadline.
CNN has reached out to NATO for comment.
German chancellor says Afghanistan evacuation efforts cannot continue without US support
From CNN’s Inke Kappeler
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday said evacuation efforts in Afghanistan will not be able to continue without the support of the United States government.
Addressing reporters in Berlin following a virtual meeting of G7 leaders, she said G7 leaders must continue to work together on evacuation operations.
“I have to emphasize that the US has the lead here. Without the US, we can’t continue with the evacuations, this must be made clear,” Merkel said.
“We want a unified G7 response and it won’t help anything if each nation just does its own thing, but what we can say is that the evacuation is being carried out with a great feat of togetherness,” she added.
The German chancellor also called on G7 leaders to take a unified approach to any future relations with the Taliban.
“A group is being put together from within the G7 which will effort putting together a plan of action as to how we deal with the Taliban in future,” Merkel said, adding that leaders must talk to the Taliban as evacuation efforts continue.
“It is clear that we want to evacuate as long as possible, but we can only evacuate as long as the security situation allows this, but the security situation is very difficult at present,” Merkel said.
Biden cited threat to US troops as key reason for sticking to Afghanistan withdrawal deadline
From CNN’s Phil Mattingly, Kevin Liptak and Kaitlan Collins
President Joe Biden, in brief remarks at an emergency virtual meeting with leaders of the closest US allies, made security risks to US personnel on the ground a focal point of his explanation for sticking to his self-imposed Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline, according to a senior administration official with knowledge of the remarks.
Biden made clear the decision to stick to the withdrawal timeline was in large part driven by those security risks, noting that each day the risks get higher in a country now controlled by the Taliban. Biden made a particular point of warning of the potential for terror attacks, which has become an acute concern inside his administration, the officials said.
Biden left open the possibility of extending it should the dynamic with the Taliban change. While advocating for maintaining the end of the month deadline, he said the risk of an attack is “very high,” according to an administration official.
Biden went into the meeting facing pressure from G7 allies — and bipartisan lawmakers on Capitol Hill — to extend the deadline, as concerns have grown that the scale of the operation leaves little chance to fully evacuate vulnerable Afghans by the end of the month.
Biden emphasized the current accelerated pace of evacuations to the assembled leaders and said his goal is still to see them completed by the end of the month, a Western official familiar with the conversation said.
Still, Biden did point out that he had directed his team to draft contingency plans should the White House determine the evacuation needs to be extended. Any shift in Biden’s decision would be driven pace the of the evacuation in the days ahead, though it was made clear the safety of US personnel is considered paramount at this point.
US lawmakers push Biden’s national security team to extend Aug. 31 evacuation deadline
From CNN’s Jeremy Herb and Morgan Rimmer
Lawmakers from both parties pressed top Biden national security officials at a classified briefing Tuesday to extend the Aug. 31 deadline for the US military to evacuate Americans and vulnerable Afghans from Afghanistan.
House members were briefed by President Biden’s top national security officials Tuesday – Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines – at the same time that Biden decided to stick with the Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan.
“There was strong, bipartisan support to extend the August 31 deadline,” said Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat. “That was a major theme, a major comment a major point we all tried to make, urging them to do more to advocate with the president to extend the deadline.”
The pushback from lawmakers at the briefing and afterward underscores the challenges Biden’s team faces on the ground in Afghanistan and back home in Washington as it scrambles to evacuate American citizens, Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program applicants and other vulnerable Afghans ahead of the deadline.
Lawmakers said that Biden’s team recognized the challenge of getting everyone out by Aug. 31, saying there was an acknowledgement of contingency plans to go beyond the end of the months.
“I’m very confident we’ll get as many as it as possible to get out. All? That — that’s going to be very, very difficult,” said House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith of Washington. “I did ask about the 31st deadline. That is still the goal. And I was very specific that they need to have a plan to go past the 31st and they assured me that they do.”
The pushback from lawmakers on the deadline began on Monday, when House Intelligence Chairman Adam Smith told reporters following a briefing from the intelligence community that he didn’t see how it was possible to complete the evacuation by the deadline.
Then on Tuesday, lawmakers made their case directly to the national security officials in charge of the US withdrawal.
“We made it very clear to them they should let the president know, back off that number,” said Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee. “Blinken kept trying to say we’re going to do our best, but they all acknowledged it can’t be done. You couldn’t get all the Americans out of there, much less the Afghans.
Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, argued that the conditions on the ground have changed and the deadline should change with it.
“This was the date that United States set, and we set that date under different conditions, during a different time,” Crow said. “Those conditions have changed, we’re in a different world now than we were in when that date was originally set. We have to respond to that different world and that different reality. We have to get the mission done.”
More than 1,500 Afghans and nearly 100 French nationals have arrived in France after evacuations
From CNN’s Saskya Vandoorne, Xiaofei Xu and Sebastien Kraft
With two flights arriving in Paris Tuesday, carrying more than 450 evacuees onboard, France has now transported more than 1,500 Afghans and nearly 100 French nationals from Kabul to Paris via Abu Dhabi, since the evacuations first began August 16, according to a statement by the French Foreign Ministry.
“Afghans who wish to remain in France for a long period of time will receive material and administrative support for their asylum application,” the statement read.
The French government is providing immediate medical, psychological and material aid for all evacuees arriving in Paris. Non-vaccinated evacuees will undergo Covid tests and a 10-day quarantine, as Afghanistan is currently on France’s “red” country list where the virus is most prevalent. They will also have the opportunity to receive the vaccination.
The country has also accelerated its visa process for non-EU nationals while insisting that it’s doing so after verifications “in order to guarantee internal security,” according to the release.
On Monday, France put five Afghans, one of whom had suspected links to the Taliban, under MICAS order, an anti-terror measure that allows authorities to impose restrictions on a suspect’s movement and communications, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.
G7 leaders agree Taliban must allow people to leave Afghanistan after Aug. 31, UK prime minister says
From CNN’s Sharon Braithwaite
G7 leaders have called on the Taliban to guarantee safe passage for all those wishing to leave Afghanistan after Aug. 31, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday, describing this as the G7’s “number one condition” for the Taliban.
“The number one condition we are setting as G7 is that they’ve got to guarantee right the way through – through August 31 and beyond – safe passage for those who want to come out,” Johnson said after a virtual meeting of G7 leaders.
“We have got together, the leading Western powers and agreed, not just a joint approach to dealing with the evacuation, but also a roadmap for the way in which we’re going to engage with the Taliban, as probably there will be a Taliban government in Kabul,” he added.
When asked about the Aug. 31 deadline earlier today, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said the Taliban are not in favor of allowing Afghans to leave the country.
“The Afghans leaving, we are not going to allow that, and we are not even happy about it,” Mujahid said.
The spokesperson said the Taliban will not accept an extension to the evacuation deadline, saying “my message to the Americans is to get out all the nationals before the 31st”.
Evacuation operation in Afghanistan remains top priority for G7 leaders, official says
From CNN’s Nada Bashir
Evacuation efforts in Afghanistan continue to be the top priority for G7 leaders, European Council President Charles Michel said Tuesday after meeting with those leaders over videoconference.
“We tackled what remains our most pressing priority, the safe evacuation of the coalition citizens, Afghan staff and their families,” Michel said.
“The EU and its member states will spare no effort to evacuate EU citizens and those who have partnered with us,” he added, noting that G7 leaders remain concerned over people’s ability to reach and access Kabul airport.
According to the latest briefing from the Pentagon, there are “a little bit above 5,000” people in the airport in Kabul waiting to get on evacuation flights — a significant improvement in the speed of the evacuation process at the airport over recent days.
The European Council president said Tuesday that the EU had discussed the matter of airport evacuations with the United States, with a particular focus on securing Kabul’s international airport “as long as necessary to complete the operations” and to ensure fair access to the airport for all nationals entitled to evacuation.
“We call on the new Afghan authorities to allow free passage to all foreign and Afghan citizens who wish to get to the airport,” Michel continued.
“The EU will do its part to support the safety and proper living conditions of Afghans who flee their country,” he added.
President Vladimir Putin says Russia does not plan to get militarily involved in Afghanistan
From CNN’s Zahra Ullah and Anna Chernova
Russia is closely monitoring the situation in Afghanistan but is not going to get involved militarily in the country, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday at an event for ruling party United Russia ahead of upcoming local elections next month.
“Of course, it goes without saying that we are not going to interfere in Afghanistan’s domestic affairs, let alone involve our armed forces in a conflict,” Putin said.
Putin said Russia has learned from the Soviet experience in Afghanistan:
“The USSR had its own experience in that country. We have learnt the necessary lessons.”
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow opposes the idea of having US troops in Central Asian countries which border both Russia and Afghanistan and is against allowing Afghan refugees to be processed in these countries before being sent to the US, according to Russian state media TASS.
Biden decides to stick with Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw from Afghanistan, according to official
From CNN’s Kevin Liptak
President Biden, in consultation with his national security team, has decided to stick with the Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan, according to a senior administration official.
Biden made the decision mindful of the security risks in remaining the country longer, the official said.
He has asked for contingency plans in case he determines at a later date the US needs to remain in the country longer.
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/2vOFWwU94BQ/h_3b5bd3a87675734da0a031bdfd2b76e4
