CIA Director William Burns held secret in-person talks with the de facto leader of the Taliban on Monday as the U.S. raced to evacuate tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan, according to The Washington Post. In an exclusive report, the Post said that America’s top spy met Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday in what it described as “the highest-level face-to-face encounter between the Taliban and the Biden administration since the militants seized the Afghan capital.” It’s thought the discussions involved the rapidly approaching Aug. 31 deadline for the U.S. military to complete its evacuation of U.S. citizens and Afghan allies from Kabul. President Joe Biden is under intense pressure from allies, including France and Britain, to push back next week’s evacuation deadline. The CIA declined to comment on the report.
