Evacuation In Afghanistan, UK Defense Secretary: If Mortars Are Fired On The Runway It's A Humanitarian Problem

British soldiers at Kabul airport, Afghanistan. (Twitter/@DefenceHQ)

JAKARTA - British Defense Secretary, Ben Wallace, said the United States Government was unlikely to extend the evacuation deadline, to allow its citizens and Afghans to fly from Kabul.

With the Taliban warning, the deadline was August 31, in line with the deadline for the withdrawal of the Washington-led coalition troops, Wallace also warned of the potential for missing the deadline.

US President Joe Biden will face pressure to extend the August 31 deadline for the evacuation of thousands of people trying to flee the Taliban in Afghanistan, at a virtual meeting of leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations on Tuesday.

Citing Reuters Tuesday, August 24, the Taliban said it would reject any demands by Western forces to extend the deadline to give it more time to complete the evacuation operation from Afghanistan via Kabul airport.

Earlier, President Joe Biden, who called the evacuation process difficult and painful, said on Sunday he did not want to extend the deadline, but talks were ongoing.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace. (Wikimedia Commons/US Secretary of Defense)

"I don't think it's possible. Not just because of what the Taliban said, but also if you look at President Biden's public statements. It's definitely worth it for all of us to try, and we're going to do it", Wallace told Sky News.

Wallace said that if Western troops did not leave by the time limit, the Taliban could attack airports or prevent people from arriving.

"If the airport is attacked then effectively shut down, mortar fire on the runway and so on, that's going to put you in a very big humanitarian problem", Wallace said.

He said there was no prospect of British troops continuing evacuation efforts in Kabul without a US military presence. In the future, Wallace said Britain, which currently chooses the United States as a military ally, might form alliances with other countries for certain operations.

"Maybe it's actually more interesting for us to join forces with other partners, we have to have power that is much more interoperable than dependent", he explained.

Minister Wallace said Britain had evacuated about 8,600 people from Afghanistan in the past two weeks, including 2,000 in the past 24 hours.

"But given the limited time before the evacuation window closes, we're not going to get everyone out".