Germany Says US, Allies Can't Evacuate All Afghans By August 31

Western allies will not be able to fly every Afghan who needs protection out of Kabul before the United States' planned August 31 withdrawal deadline, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday.

"Even if (the evacuation) goes on until August 31 or even a few days longer, it will not be enough to allow those who we, or the United States, want to fly out," Maas told Bild TV.

Allies must therefore plot out how they can keep getting people out of Afghanistan even if the military operation ends as scheduled.

G7 leaders are due to hold talks later Tuesday on the crisis triggered by the Taliban's return to power, and European partners have urged Washington to push back the timeline on ending their deployment in Afghanistan.

If the August 31 deadline is kept, then the Americans "will certainly need two days to fly out their own military alone", said Maas, thereby possibly bringing forward the last day for the civilian evacuation flights.

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