Biden Aims For Aug. 31 Afghanistan Pullout

The White House said U.S. President Joe Biden is aiming to stick to the date of Aug. 31 to complete all foreign evacuations due to the mounting threat of militant attacks.

But Biden has left open the chance of the deadline being extended, the White House said, and has asked the Pentagon and the U.S. State Department to develop contingency plans should that prove necessary.

Biden spoke on Tuesday with leaders of the G7 major industrialized nations – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, telling them that completing evacuations by Aug. 31 is dependent on continued cooperation with the Taliban, including continued access for evacuees to the airport in Kabul.

Biden also told G7 counterparts that each day on the ground in Afghanistan brings added risk to U.S. troops from an attack by Islamic State militants, according to the White House.

The developments follow what two U.S. officials said was a meeting between CIA Director William Burns and Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday to discuss the chaos in Afghanistan after the Taliban’s unexpectedly swift takeover.

Biden, who said last week troops might stay past Aug. 31 to evacuate Americans, will follow a Pentagon recommendation to remove the troops by that date as long as the Taliban enables the U.S. to complete its evacuations, three U.S. officials said.

Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was growing concern about suicide bombings by Islamic State at the airport, which has been overwhelmed by Afghans and foreign citizens rushing to leave, fearing Taliban reprisals.

One U.S. official said it was no longer a question of if, but when, militants would attack and the priority was to get out before it happened.