A US official has said that the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns has held an in-person meeting with the co-founder of the Taliban Mullah Abdulghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday, August 24.
US media has cited US officials about the visit of Burns to Kabul, but the CIA has not yet commented on the face-to-face meeting.
The visit comes ahead of the G7 virtual summit on the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and as the US troops’ full withdrawal is getting closer.
Group of Seven is scheduled to hold an online meeting in which the extension of US troops’ mission in Kabul is said to be discussed.
US is currently conducting its most difficult airlift ever from Hamid Karzai International Airport where six thousand US troops have been deployed.
The evacuation has recently been expedited though; it seems inapplicable for the US to evacuate all those who are planned to be flown away until August 31.
Taliban has reacted to the potential extension of US troops’ stay and warned of repercussions.
