London: The Taliban warned on Monday that there would be “consequences” if allies such as the US and Britain seek to extend the August 31 deadline for the withdrawal of US-led troops from the war-torn country.
Speaking to Sky News in Doha, Taliban spokesman Dr Suhail Shaheen said the deadline was a “red line” and any extension would mean an extended occupation of the country, news agency PTI reported.
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Ahead of the G-7 emergency meeting on Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman said US President Joe Biden had set a deadline and threatened “results” if the US and Britain sought an extension.
Shaheen said, “It’s a red line. President Biden announced that on August 31st they would withdraw all their military forces. So if they increase it means they are extending the occupation, while There’s no need for it.”
He said, “If the US or the UK were to ask for additional time to continue the evacuation the answer is no. Or there will be consequences. It will create distrust between us. If they intend to continue with the occupation it will provoke a reaction.” “
The warning comes as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called an emergency G7 meeting on Tuesday in his role as the current chair of the Group of Seven countries Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and Britain.
The agenda of the meeting is expected to be about pushing the US to extend the August 31 deadline, as significant evacuations of foreign nationals from Taliban-controlled territory are underway.
The spokesman has dubbed the desperate scenes at Kabul airport as economic migration, where people risk their lives to escape the Taliban regime.
“I assure you it’s not about worrying or being afraid. They want to live in western countries and it’s kind of economic migration because Afghanistan is a poor country and 70 percent of Afghanistan’s people live below the poverty line. So everyone wants to settle in western countries for a prosperous life [being] Got scared,” claimed Shaheen, as reported by PTI.
He also said that the reports of door-to-door knockdowns to search for former government employees “are all fake news. I can assure you that there are many reports claimed by our opponents which are not based on realities.”
On women’s rights, the representative continues to claim that women under the Taliban regime will have the same rights as elsewhere, as long as they wear the hijab – even though there are worrying reports about the status of women under the Taliban regime. .
She was quoted as saying, “Women should get the same rights that you have in your country, but with the hijab.”
“Now, women teachers have resumed work. Nothing is lost. Women journalists have resumed their work. Nothing is lost,” he claimed.
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