US CIA Director Holds 'Secret Meeting' with Taliban Leader... Discusses Extension of Evacuation Period

Speculation on Discussions Regarding Extension of August 31 Deadline

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Taliban Co-founder. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Amid ongoing armed conflict in Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover, claims have emerged that the Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) held a secret meeting with the Taliban's de facto leader.

On the 24th (local time), The Washington Post (WP), citing anonymous sources, reported that William Burns, CIA Director, secretly met with Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is regarded as the Taliban's de facto leader, in Kabul, Afghanistan the previous day.

This meeting marks the first face-to-face encounter between the highest-level representatives of both sides since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan.

WP predicted that the meeting likely discussed extending the evacuation deadline for Afghans who cooperated with the U.S. beyond the current deadline of the 31st of this month.

Currently, there are ongoing calls, mainly from allied countries including the U.S., the United Kingdom, and France, to extend the evacuation deadline.

However, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shahin drew a line in an interview with the UK’s Sky News held in Doha, Qatar the previous day, stating that the 31st is the "red line."

Director Burns, who participated in the meeting, is a diplomatic expert with 33 years of experience and served as Deputy Secretary of State under the Barack Obama administration.

Baradar is one of the founders of the Taliban and is regarded as its de facto leader. He led the Taliban negotiation team in talks with the Afghan government that began in Doha, Qatar in September last year, drawing attention from the Western world. On the 17th, he reportedly entered Afghanistan to lead the formation of the new government.

Meanwhile, WP noted the irony that Baradar was captured during a joint CIA-Pakistani counterterrorism operation 11 years ago and was imprisoned for eight years until 2018, interpreting this as "(the fact that he is now dealing with the CIA Director) is somewhat ironic."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.