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Watch | Taliban evade WION’s question on secret meeting between Mullah Baradar and CIA chief

WION Web Team
NEW DELHIUpdated: Aug 24, 2021, 09:25 PM IST
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Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid Photograph:(AFP)

Story highlights

According to the Washington Post, who cited anonymous US officials, CIA Director William J Burns conducted a secret meeting with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday. 

The Taliban said they would not agree to an extension of a looming deadline to evacuate Afghans from Kabul airport, even as Western countries said they were running out of time.

In answer to WION's Anas Mallick's query concerning a covert meeting between the chief of the American intelligence agency CIA, William J Burns, and Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar, the spokesperson declined to confirm or deny it.

"All diplomats and embassies, including the United States, have been meeting with the Islamic Emirates Political Office," a Taliban spokeswoman asserted.

He said he can not confirm Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar's meeting with CIA Director. 

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According to the Washington Post, who cited anonymous US officials, CIA Director William J Burns conducted a secret meeting with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday. 

According to the Washington Post, this was the highest-level face-to-face meeting between the two sides and came more than a week after the militant organisation seized power in Afghanistan.

Pictures | Shocking images of children trapped at Kabul airport amid evacuation

About 50,000 foreigners and Afghans have fled the country from Kabul's airport since the Taliban swept into power nine days ago, according to the US government.

Many Afghans fear a repeat of the brutal interpretation of sharia law the Taliban implemented when they were first in power from 1996-2001, and retribution for working with the US-backed government over the past two decades.

Watch | Kabul airport witnesses rush after people flee Afghanistan owing to Taliban's siege

The Taliban, who ended two decades of war with an astonishingly swift rout of government forces, have been publicly tolerant of the evacuation effort.

(With inputs from agencies)