Washington: President Joe Biden will hold on to the recommendation of the Pentagon to remove US forces from Afghanistan on August 31 for the Taliban enabling the United States to resolve the evacuation, three US officials told Reuters on Tuesday.
Biden sent thousands of US troops to Kabul airport after the Taliban militant group took over the city and most of the countries were less than two weeks ago.
Nearly 6,000 US troops help evacuate American citizens and at risk of Afghanistan and to protect the airport so that other countries can evacuate their citizens too.
The Pentagon made a recommendation that Biden remained on the target date of August 31 on Monday, officials said.
Biden accepted a recommendation but asked the Pentagon to make a contingency plan to stay longer if necessary, said an official.
The date depends on completing the mission and cooperation of Taliban, the official said.
The official said the United States had made regular contact with the Taliban and officials told the group that the timeline depends on Taliban cooperation.
Biden sent the CIA Director William on fire to meet with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday at the official meeting of the highest level since the militant group took over the capital of Afghanistan, a US official and source familiar with government activities on Tuesday.
The source of Congress said Burns and Baradar had discussed August 31.
The Pentagon recommendation reflects an increase in security concerns at Kabul Airport, where American citizens and Afghanistan Afghanistan are being evacuated.
Two US officials, talking about the condition of anonymity, said that there were concerns about suicide bombings by militants of Islamic countries at the airport.
An official said it was no longer a question about whether, but when, militants would attack and the priority was to come out before it happened.
Biden is set to speak later on Tuesday.
The previous Pentagon said that it was convinced that the military could evacuate all Americans who wanted to leave.
Whether thousands of Afghans are at risk of all will be evacuated unclear.
“We really aimed towards the end of the month,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, adding that the Pentagon might need an additional base to accommodate Evakares from Afghanistan.
Kirby said “several thousand” Americans have been evacuated from Afghanistan but refused to give a more specific number.
He also said he could not give the percentage of Americans in Afghanistan who have now been evacuated.
The new Taliban rulers Afghanistan said on Tuesday they want all foreign evacuations from the country to be completed on August 31 and they will not approve an extension when the seven groups of leaders meet to discuss the crisis.
West troops have worked panicked to get foreigners and Afghans to planes and abroad and Biden have faced pressure growing from allies to negotiate more time for airlift.