The White House national security adviser said the United States was in contact with the Taliban about its operation at Kabul airport, claiming that there was a possibility of a recurrence of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday evening that the process of leaving the Kabul airport is very complicated and dangerous.
“We are ready for any operation that may be carried out by ISIS, al-Qaeda or any other terrorist organization in Afghanistan,” Sullivan told a news conference at the White House.
“We are taking important steps and a week ago no one expected that we would be able to evacuate 37,000 people,” he said, according to the White House news website.
“We are consulting with the Taliban on all aspects of our exit and operations inside the airport,” the US official said, adding that the process of leaving Afghanistan was “complex, dangerous and fraught with challenges.”
Asked if there was not enough time to remove all foreign nationals from Afghanistan by the deadline, Sullivan said: “We still believe that the daily evacuation process is progressing and we believe that this can be completed by 31 August. . “We have established a network of centers in several Gulf countries and Europe to receive American citizens.”
“We are in close consultation with our allies and partners on the process of leaving Afghanistan,” he added. “We talk to the Taliban daily through political and security channels.”
“There is a possibility that al-Qaeda may re-establish its capabilities in Afghanistan,” said the White House National Security Adviser, claiming that some terrorist organizations may gain power in Afghanistan. “We do not trust the Taliban because we saw horrible images when they were in power.”
Earlier, a US official told Reuters that President Joe Biden would decide in the next 24 hours whether to extend the date of US exit from Afghanistan, which is August 31 (another week).
Meanwhile, Soheil Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban’s office in Qatar, warned that the delay in the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan would have consequences for the United States, and that the date set was the Taliban’s red line.
