Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint in Kabul.
The Taliban have warned of 'action' against American troops if the Joe Biden government fails to complete the withdrawal of all the military forces from Afghanistan by August 31.
"President Biden announces that they will withdraw all the military forces by august 31, if they extend it, it means they are extending the occupation.. if they intent on continuing the evacuation, it will provoke action ...," Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan, Suhail Shaheen, said.
Notably, Biden had on Sunday said that his administration might extend his August 31 deadline for evacuating all American troops from Afghanistan. The military has evacuated 28,000 people since August 14 from Kabul since the Taliban seized control of the country.
“Our hope is we will not have to extend, but there are going to be discussions, I suspect, on how far along we are in the process,” the President said.
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced that talks on the formation of a new government with Afghanistan political leaders were underway and that a new government will be announced soon.
"Our political officials met with leaders here in Kabul, their views are important, discussions are moving, there is hope for an announcement on the government soon," Mujahid said.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan two weeks before the United States was set to complete its troop withdrawal. US President Joe Biden had in April announced that all American troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 11 this year, thus bringing to end the country's longest war, spanning across two decades. Since the US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks, America has spent more than USD 1 trillion in fighting and rebuilding in Afghanistan. About 2,400 US soldiers have been killed, along with tens of thousands of Afghan troops, Taliban insurgents and Afghan civilians.
The Taliban, which refers to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), is a terrorist organisation. Thousands of Afghans rushed into Kabul's main airport on Monday, some so desperate to escape the Taliban that they held onto a military jet as it took off and plunged to their deaths.
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