CIA chief met Taliban leader Mullah Baradar in Afghanistan on Monday: Washington Post

• US President Joe Biden dispatches top spy to meet the head of the Taliban.
• The US and its allies are racing against time to complete withdrawal by August 31 deadline.
• The number of people relocated from Afghanistan on US flights since July is now 53,000.

WASHINGTON: Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns secretly met Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The meeting, if confirmed, is the highest level diplomatic encounter between the US and the insurgents since the Taliban took over Afghanistan's capital last week.

The Post, citing unnamed US officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said CIA chief met Mullah Baradar in Kabul on Monday as the Biden administration continues efforts to evacuate US citizens and other allies amid chaos at the airport in Kabul.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Representatives for the CIA and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Burns is one of US President Joe Biden's most experienced diplomats; while Baradar, who headed the Taliban's political office in Qatar, is one of the top leaders in the regime that has taken power in Kabul.

A spokesperson for the CIA would not confirm the meeting to AFP, saying that the agency "never discusses the director's travels."

The Washington Post, which cited anonymous US sources for the meeting, did not reveal the content of the discussions between the Taliban co-founder and the CIA boss.

But it said it was likely they revolved around any delay in the deadline for the United States to finish evacuations at the airport of the Afghan capital, where thousands of Afghans, terrified by the return of the Taliban, are still massed with the hope of fleeing the country.

Biden has set an August 31 deadline to finish the chaotic airlift organised by thousands of temporarily deployed US and UK troops, but has left the door open to an extension if needed.

But a spokesman for the Taliban warned Monday the group would not agree to any extension, calling the issue a "red line", with any delay viewed as "extending occupation".

"If the US or UK were to seek additional time to continue evacuations — the answer is no. Or there would be consequences," Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Sky News.

A virtual G7 summit is scheduled to review the evacuations on Tuesday.

US ramps up Kabul evacuation

Meanwhile, the US military shuttled thousands more people through the Kabul airport over the past 12 hours, a White House official said, as Washington attempts to complete a daring airlift by an August 31 deadline for troops to leave Afghanistan.

Over 10,000 people were evacuated from Hamid Karzai International Airport in the 12 hours up until 3pm Monday (1900 GMT), the official said, updating figures given earlier in the day at the Pentagon.

The number of people relocated from Afghanistan on US flights since July is now 53,000, with the vast majority of those since the intense airlift operations started on August 14 as the Taliban moved into Kabul.

Earlier, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said those evacuated included "several thousand" US citizens and thousands of Afghans who worked for US forces who had applied for or received special immigrant visas.

Kirby said the focus remains on getting US evacuation operations done by the August 31 deadline that President Joe Biden has set for completing the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

That would also require withdrawing the 5,800 US troops who have essentially run airport operations and maintained security since August 14, as well as large amounts of equipment brought in to support their mission.

German, British and French officials said Monday that evacuations on their part could continue after August 31, and said they want the US force to stay in place to help the international airlift.

Race against time

Kirby did not categorically rule out Washington extending the deadline, although the Taliban have said they will hold the United States to it.

"The goal is to get as many people out as fast as possible," Kirby said. "The focus is on trying to do this as best we can, by the end of the month."

At the White House, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan deferred questions on extending the US pullout deadline to the G7 talks on Tuesday, saying the White House is taking the situation "day by day."

He said Biden had already spoken with Johnson on Monday.

"We remain in close touch with allies and partners to coordinate the evacuation of their own citizens and their priority personnel," Sullivan said.

"We believe that we have time between now and the 31st to get out any American who wants to get out."