The Taliban has banned all Afghan citizens from trying to flee the country from Kabul airport effective immediately and ordered women to stay at home after again warning Western forces to depart by the August 31 deadline.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Islamists’ chief spokesman, said in a press conference today the group will ‘not accept’ any extension to the deadline, and from now on only stranded foreigners will be able to reach the airport in the coming week to board Nato and Western planes.
He said: ‘The road to Kabul airport is closed for locals and open to foreigners.
‘We fully assure the locals and tell them to return to their homes. We are not in favour of allowing Afghans to leave.’
He added that women have been told to stay at home for their own safety, saying: ‘It’s currently for their benefit to prevent any ill treatment.’
Mujahid also refused to deny the Taliban held a secret meeting with the CIA after reports emerged that the Islamists met with the agency’s director in Kabul yesterday.
He said he is ‘not aware’ of the meeting but did not deny that it had taken place.
CIA director William Burns is thought to have met with the Taliban’s de-facto leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul to discuss – among other things – the August 31 deadline to withdraw foreign forces from the country.
Speaking about foreign citizens in Afghanistan, Mujahid reiterated the deadline implemented by Joe Biden which other world leaders fear is too soon to carry out the evacuations.
He said: ‘All people should be removed prior to that date. If [western countries] wish to remove people before then, they can.
‘[But] after that we will not allow people to leave, we will take a difference stance.’
He spoke a day after another Taliban spokesman – Suhail Shaheen – warned of ‘consequences’ if western soldiers overstay their welcome.
Joe Biden had been under pressure from other world leaders to extend the deadline, with France, the UK, Spain and Germany all warning that it does not give them long enough to evacuate all those they promised sanctuary to.
Speaking in Kabul today, Mujahid urged thousands of people trying to flee the country via Kabul airport to ‘go home’ – adding: ‘We guarantee your safety’.
