Director CIA secretly meets Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul: report

WASHINGTON: The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief William Burns, held a secret meeting with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar on Monday, according to a media report.

Quoting government sources, The Washington Post reported that Director CIA William Burns held a meeting on the highest level with Mullah Baradar, since the Taliban took control of the Afghan capital city of Kabul.

While the details of their conversation weren’t disclosed, the meeting comes amid the pullout of American and other Western military forces from Afghanistan, with the deadline set to expire at the end of August.

According to western media reports the Taliban has warned that any attempt by the US to delay their withdrawal to give people more time to evacuate would “provoke a reaction.”

Afghanistan’s security forces collapsed in the face of the Taliban advance, despite 20 years of Western training and assistance.

Western forces at Kabul airport working frantically on Tuesday to get people out of Afghanistan before an Aug. 31 deadline, as President Joe Biden faced growing pressure to negotiate more time for the airlift of thousands trying to flee.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, however, in an interview said, Aug. 31 is a “red line” and that extending the American presence would “provoke a reaction.”