Status: 08/24/2021 6:59 p.m.
The rescue flights cannot continue without the US soldiers in Kabul. It is now becoming increasingly clear that the US will leave Afghanistan on August 31, as planned. The G7 could not change US President Biden’s mind.
US President Joe Biden is holding on to concluding the Afghanistan withdrawal by August 31, according to consistent media reports. This would also end the ongoing evacuation mission, reports, among others, the US news channels CNN and Fox News. Around 5800 US soldiers are currently securing Kabul airport.
Claudia Buckenmaier, ARD Washington, on the political struggle of the G7 over evacuation missions after August 31st
tagesschau24 9:00 p.m., 8/24/2021
Merkel: “No new data”
Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed this indirectly: “The President of the United States of America gave no new data on the known date of August 31 today,” she said after the virtual G7 summit on Afghanistan. She emphasized that Germany could not continue the evacuations without the USA.
There was also no mention of an extension in a joint statement by the heads of state and government.
Allies had urged the US to extend it
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not comment on a possible extension of the rescue operation. However, he called on the Taliban to grant safe conduct to those wishing to leave Afghanistan even after Western troops had withdrawn from Afghanistan. An agreement is being planned with the Islamists in which this demand should be the most important condition for an agreement, said Johnson.
However, the Taliban have already announced that they will no longer allow their compatriots to enter the airport. They also insist on August 31st as the end of the international evacuation mission.
Britain and other European allies had previously urged that the US military operation be extended beyond the previously set August 31 deadline. The priority is the safe evacuation of its own citizens as well as the Afghans with whom it has worked, it said. According to EU Council President Charles Michel, the G7 called on Biden during their deliberations to secure the airport “for as long as necessary” in order to be able to fly out endangered Afghans.
G7 demand safe conduct from Taliban for evacuations in Afghanistan after August 31st
Sven Lohmann, ARD London, daily news 8:00 p.m., 8/24/2021
Russia and China should be included
The G7 countries also decided to coordinate their Afghanistan policy with other countries. That is why we should also work with the G20. Russia and China are also members of this group of states. The Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi also called for a common European immigration policy for people from Afghanistan.
In Kabul and many other regions of Afghanistan, thousands of former local workers are waiting to leave safely. It is very unlikely that everyone will be able to leave the country.
Will the airport be used for civil purposes in the future?
Merkel said that the question of the future security of the airport arises. “How can we ensure that local staff and people in need of protection can still leave the country afterwards? That is why the question of whether we can then operate a civil airport in Kabul again plays a role Spoken very intensely at the moment. ”