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Reuters

US President Joe Biden sent CIA director William Burns to meet Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday in the highest-level official encounter since the militant group took over the Afghan capital, a US official and a source familiar with government activity said on Tuesday.
Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Biden administration has been evacuating US citizens and other allies amid chaos at Kabul airport ahead of an August 31 deadline to pull out of Afghanistan.
The Washington Post, citing US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, first reported the meeting.
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The White House and a CIA representative declined to comment. A Taliban spokesman said he was not aware if Baradar met the CIA chief.
Biden last week said US troops may stay in Afghanistan past his August 31 deadline to evacuate Americans.
However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Tuesday the group had not agreed to extend the deadline for evacuation and they wanted all foreign evacuations to be completed by the end of the month.


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Afghanistan: CIA director William Burns met Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul – media

Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar held a secret face-to-face meeting with US CIA chief William Burns in Kabul, according to sources. Photo: AFP

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Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. File photo: AFP

(FILES) In this file photo taken on February 29, 2020 Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (C) leaves after signing an agreement with the United States during a ceremony in the Qatari capital Doha. - The Taliban's deputy leader and co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar arrived in Kandahar on August 17, 2021, landing in the insurgent group’s former capital just days after they took control of the country. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP)

FILE - In this July 28, 2021, file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, left, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pose for a photo during their meeting in Tianjin, China. China has expressed a willingness to hold talks with the U.S. to promote a “soft landing” in Afghanistan, while heavily criticizing Washington and again demanding that the Biden administration halt its attacks on China. (Li Ran/Xinhua via AP, File)

epa09417730 Taliban fighter stands guard at a checkpoint in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 17 August 2021. Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar, on 16 August, declared victory and an end to the decades-long war in Afghanistan, a day after the insurgents entered Kabul to take control of the country. Baradar, who heads the Taliban political office in Qatar, released a short video message after President Ashraf Ghani fled and conceded that the insurgents had won the 20-year war. EPA-EFE/STRINGER

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US and Taliban officials have not officially confirmed the meeting, which was first reported by The Washington Post
This would be the highest-level encounter with the Taliban since it took over Afghanistan’s capital



US and Taliban officials have not officially confirmed the meeting, which was first reported by The Washington Post.


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