Afghanistan: the countdown around evacuations at the heart of the G7 meeting
Norwegian marines and soldiers carry out evacuations at Kabul airport on August 20.
(Image illustration).
via REUTERS - US MARINES
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Thousands of Afghans are still massed under harsh conditions at Kabul airport, in the hope of being able to flee the Taliban regime.
But the countdown is on and the Americans want to maintain their deadline at the end of August for a total withdrawal of their troops.
This Tuesday, August 24, during an emergency meeting of the G7 convened by the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who currently chairs the group, President Joe Biden risks finding himself very alone against his British, French and German partners , Italian, Japanese and Canadian.
Advertising
Read more
London, Paris, Rome and Berlin will try to convince Joe Biden to push back the August 31 deadline so that the
evacuations
can continue for at least a few more days.
But the American president, under fire from critics for his risky management of the withdrawal of his troops, will he give in to these demands, while the Taliban have indicated that this date was a "
red line
" not to be exceeded?
►Also read: Afghanistan: end of the French airlift on Thursday if the United States withdraws on August 31
In any case, it is unlikely that a country would take the risk of continuing the airlift alone, without the support of the 6,000 American soldiers still there to secure the airport.
This Tuesday morning again, Germany warned that the time "
will not be enough to evacuate all those who have to leave
".
Berlin is in talks with Turkey, but also with the Taliban to keep the airport operational and land routes open.
Who will host?
And how many refugees?
Should we recognize the Taliban regime or, on the contrary, stop all international aid to better isolate it?
And how can we prevent Afghanistan from becoming once again a sanctuary for international terrorism?
So many questions that risk embarrassing Joe Biden.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Afghanistan
G7
Taliban
United States
Joe biden