Joe Biden rejects G7 plea to extend Afghanistan withdrawal deadline

The US President says allied troops face a ‘huge and growing’ risk of being attacked by terrorist groups if they didn’t leave by the end of August.

US President Joe Biden said allied troops in Kabul faced a “huge and growing” risk of being attacked by terrorist groups as the new Taliban government in Afghanistan threatened reprisals against western forces if they didn’t leave by the end of August.

Despite concern among G7 allies, including UK prime minister Boris Johnson, that another week wouldn’t be enough time to finish the evacuation, Mr Biden said the US was “on pace”, arguing staying longer risked casualties.

“Each day brings new risk to our troops … It’s a tenuous situation already gun fighting has been breaking out,” he told reporters at the White House on Tuesday in a press conference delayed by almost four hours.

“Thus far the Taliban had been taking steps to work with us to get out people out … but completion by 31 August depends on the Taliban continuing to cooperate, allowing us access to the airport, and no disruption to our operations,” he added, revealing he had asked his officials to come up with contingency plans in case.

A few hours earlier G7 leaders, in an online summit to discuss the situation, failed to convince US president try and extend the August 31 deadline to withdraw.

A disappointed Johnson said evacuations of vulnerable Afghans will “go up until the last moment we can”.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the other G7 leaders failed to reach a deal with Joe Biden on the Afghanistan withdrawal deadline. Picture: AFP

The British won’t stay if the US forces withdraw, but the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said separately that Canada was ready to stay in place beyond the withdrawal deadline if the Taliban gave people safe passage to Kabul airport, which remained the last output of US control in the country.

Allied planes had evacuated a combined 75,900 people since the end of July, including 12,000 in the 12 hours up untils the President’s remarks.

The administration confirmed on Tuesday still had no idea how many Americans remained in Afghanistan, with estimates ranging from 5000 to 15,000, amid reports the Taliban weren’t letting some to the airport, as promised.

Jen Psaki, the president’s press secretary earlier conceded “millions” Afghans wanted to come to the US, which complicated the government’s ability to sift through who was eligible to emigrate.

“Any non-American will have undergone a full background check,” the President said, seeking to douse concerns among some quarters the evacuation could see terrorists infiltrate the US.

At a press conference in Kabul earlier on Tuesday, a Taliban spokesman said: “All people should be removed prior to that date (of 31 August). After that we do not allow them. We will take a different stance.”

France's President Emmanuel Macron takes part in the virtual G7 summit. Picture: AFP

Mr Biden said G7 leaders “stood united” and would only recognise the Taliban government if it didn’t harbour terrorists and exhibited a “renewed humanitarian commitment to the Afghan people”.

Mr Johnson warned the Taliban that Afghanistan “can’t lurch back into becoming a breeding ground of terror, Afghanistan can’t become a narco state, girls have to be educated up to the age of 18” or else the huge international funds propping up the country won’t be unfrozen.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said Russia “wasn’t going to meddle in Afghanistan’s domestic affairs or involve our military in a conflict where everyone is against each other”. In reference to the 1979 Soviet invasion, he added: “The Soviet Union had its own experience in this country. We have learned the lessons we needed.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends the virtual G7 meeting. Picture: Getty Images

German chancellor Angela Merkel said the G7 had had intensive discussions about the possibility of using the civilian side of the airport after deadline.

Mr Biden’s remarks came on a day of intense criticism of the administration’s handling of the withdrawal, including various calls for the president to resign and even face impeachment, as concerns mounted among Republicans and Democrats that the US faced a hostage crisis and had exposed itself to terrorist attack.

The CIA Director William J Burns was reported to have held top level meetings with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul earlier this week.

Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said it was “a lot worse than Saigon”. “In 1975 there weren’t terrorists threatening to attack us in US soil,” he said.

Liz Cheney, Republican Congresswoman and daughter of the former vice president, said it was an “inexplicable and indefensible situation that the president has put us in”.

“The one message Taliban should be hearing is if you don’t allow us every person we need, every Afghan we need, you will face severe consequences,” she said.