Taliban says Joe Biden will 'provoke a reaction' if US troops stay

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Downing Street was reportedly livid after the US President assured Mr Johnson and the rest of the G7 leaders in June that the US “would maintain enough of a security presence in Afghanistan to keep Kabul safe”. The memo said that this presence of US troops would allow the UK to keep its embassy open in the Afghan capital.

But Politico’s Playbook reported that when this didn’t happen many world leaders felt that Mr Biden had failed to keep his commitment and instead pulled the rug from under his allies.

A Government insider told the website that the Biden administration told them one thing about the pace and scale of the withdrawal, and then did another.

News of the spat emerged as the Prime Minister is set to lobby his US counterpart to extend his September deadline for withdrawing all US forces from the war-torn country.

Mr Johnson will use the UK’s chairing of the virtual summit tomorrow to press the Leader of the Free World on the issue.

Ahead of the meeting, he tweeted: “It is vital that the international community works together to ensure safe evacuations, prevent a humanitarian crisis and support the Afghan people to secure the gains of the last 20 years.”

So far Mr Biden has been bullish about an extension – insisting that he stood “squarely behind” his decision.

But his position appeared to be softening ahead of the summit.

The Democrat politician signalled he could be willing to bow to demands for an extension, revealing discussions were already under way and saying he would tell the G7.

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He said: “We will see what we can do.”

Shortly after Mr Johnson’s tweet, the president’s press secretary Jen Psaki said: “The leaders will discuss continuing our close coordination of Afghanistan policy and evacuating our citizens, the brave Afghans who stood with us over the last two decades and other vulnerable Afghans.

“They will also discuss plans to provide humanitarian assistance and support for Afghan refugees.”

But for any extension to work – the Taliban would have to agree.

So far they have been unwilling to discuss the issue.

Taliban spokesperson Dr Suhail Shaheen told Sky News: “It’s a red line. President Biden announced that on August 31 they would withdraw all their military forces.

“So if they extend it that means they are extending occupation while there is no need for that.”

He added: “If the US or UK were to seek additional time to continue evacuations – the answer is no. Or there would be consequences.”

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