He said the Taliban have not agreed to extend the August 31 evacuation deadline and added the US and allies must complete their operations by that date.
"We want them to evacuate all foreign nationals by the 31st of August," he said.
He said he had not been aware of reports that CIA Director William Burns secretly met with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar.
CIA director visited Taliban official — reports
CIA Director William Burns traveled to Kabul on Monday to secretly meet with the Taliban's top political leader, Reuters and several other news outlets have reported.
Burns reportedly spoke with Abdul Ghani Baradar as the US faces an August 31 deadline to remove all troops from the country.
Burns is the highest-ranking US official to meet directly with the Taliban since the fundamentalist group took over Afghanistan last week.
China warns West against Taliban sanctions
China says the international community should support chances for positive developments in Afghanistan rather than impose sanctions on the Taliban.
"The international community should encourage and promote the development of the situation in Afghanistan in a positive direction, support peaceful reconstruction, improve the well-being of the people and enhance its capacity for independent development,'' Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday.
Wang Wenbin, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, used a media briefing to hit out at the US withdrawal and possible Western sanctions.
He called the idea of "imposing sanctions" something that "will only be counterproductive.''
China, which shares a narrow border with Afghanistan, has been highly critical of the US withdrawal and has established early contacts with the Taliban.
Beijing has kept open its embassy in Kabul.
Berlin "disregarded warnings" on Kabul, says German army officer
A senior German army officer who is trying to help Afghans flee the country has launched an attack on the government for hampering the military's rescue efforts.
Cpt. Marcus Grotian told reporters in Berlin that bureaucracy and red tape meant flights were not leaving as quickly as they should, warning that not everyone could be saved by August 31.
Germany has been using military planes to evacuate its citizens and Afghan staff from the Taliban-controlled country
He said that he was "overwhelmed by disbelief at the way Germany's governing parties and politicians disregarded warnings'' about the Taliban advance across Afghanistan.
He also accused Chancellor Angela Merkel's office of failing to step in when needed. Merkel is set to step down next month after more than 15 years as Germany's leader.
France detains Afghan evacuee over suspected Taliban links
French authorities have detained an Afghan that they helped evacuate from Afghanistan.
The man is believed to be close to another Afghan evacuee who is suspected of working for the Taliban, French government spokesman Gabriel Attal told BFM-TV.
Both had been placed under surveillance on their arrival in France.
The man held had violated the terms of this control measure, officials said.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told France Info radio that he had left an area he was required to stay in for a "few minutes,"
Attal said the main suspect helped in the evacuation of French people from Afghanistan "at an incredibly tense moment and probably saved lives".
But he had "links with the Taliban, at some point, and this needs to be specified".
Afghan female soccer stars leave country
Players from Afghanistan women’s national soccer team boarded an Australian evacuation flight that carried more than 75 passengers on Tuesday.
“These young women, both as athletes and activists, have been in a position of danger and on behalf of their peers around the world we thank the international community for coming to their aid,” Global soccer players’ union FIFPRO said in a statement.
Soccer has proved popular with Afghan women and girls
The Afghan team was created in 2007 in a country where women playing sport was seen as a political act of defiance against the Taliban.
Members of the team had been advised to delete social media posts and photographs of them with the team to help avoid reprisals since the United States-backed Afghanistan government fell.
Their former captain, Khalida Popal, hailed the evacuation as an "important victory."
Western allies unable to evacuate all eligible Afghans
The US and its allies will not be able to evacuate all locals who qualify for evacuation by August 31, or even a slightly later deadline, Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has said.
"I must say already that 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.
Maas had previously warned that a swift US pullout could leave a vaccum in Afghanistan
Spain's Defense Minister Margarita Robles made a similar announcement on Tuesday, saying that the situation in the country was making it difficult for people to reach Kabul airport. This means that some locals who Spain had pledged to evacuate will remain stuck in Afghanistan.
"We will evacuate as many people as possible but there are people who will stay behind for reasons that do not depend on us, but on the situation there," Robles said during an interview with news radio Cadena Ser.
EU to increase humanitarian aid for Afghans
EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said in a tweet that she will announce a substantial increase in humanitarian support for those in Afghanistan in need of aid.
She will announce the expansion of aid from €50 million to €200 million ($235 million) sourced from contributions by EU member states during the G7 meeting.
UN rights chief warns Taliban over women's rights 'red line'
Michelle Bachelet, the top UN human rights official, said her office had received credible reports of serious violations against women and girls, including executions.
"A fundamental red line will be the Taliban's treatment of women and girls," the former president of Chile told an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council.
AirBnB CEO vows to host 20,000 Afghan refugees for free
Brian Chesky, the co-founder and chief executive of the short-term rental website, took to social media on Tuesday to promise free accommodation for as many as 20,000 Afghan refugees.
"The displacement and resettlement of Afghan refugees in the US and elsewhere is one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our time. We feel a responsibility to step up," he wrote on Twitter.
Chesky said the company was working with humanitarian organizations and existing hosts to find housing for the refugees.
France will end evacuations if US pulls out on August 31
The most senior adviser to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said France could halt evacuations of Afghans from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan later this week.
Nicolas Roche, the French diplomat's chief of staff, said France would not continue with the flights if the US pressed ahead with a plan to leave on August 31.
"If the United States carries out a total withdrawal on August 31 as planned "for us ... that means that our operation ends Thursday evening. So we have three days left," he said.
The Norwegian government said on Tuesday that it favored an extension, while Spain warned it might have to leave some people behind in the country.
Afghan cricket matches postponed
Cricket, a highly popular sport in Afghanistan, has also been hit by the collapse of the government and subsequent Taliban takeover.
The country's men's national team had been set to play a one-day series against Pakistan in Sri Lanka in early September.
But now the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Afghanistan Cricket Board say the matches will take place in 2022 due to the security situation in Kabul.
Afghanistan also has a highly successful female cricket team. Their fate is unclear under the Taliban's rule.
UK says deadline extension 'unlikely'
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace used an interview with the UK broadcaster Sky News to downplay talk of Western allies staying in Afghanistan past the August 31 deadline currently set by US President Joe Biden.
The Taliban have also ruled out the possibility of allowing foreign troops to remain in the country.
G7 leaders meeting later today are expected to discuss a possible extension of the deadline to give Western countries more time to carry out evacuations from Kabul airport.
But Wallace said a U-turn was doubtful, "not only because of what the Taliban has said but also if you look at the public statements of President Biden, I think it is unlikely."
He added: "It is definitely worth us all trying and we will."
Germany offers refuge to female rights activist
Afghan women's rights activist Zarifa Ghafari has fled to Germany from her home country.
She arrived in Cologne late on Monday evening.
Afghan women's rights activist Zarifa Ghafari has fled to Germany from Afghanistan
Born in 1992, she became Afghanistan's youngest-ever female mayor in 2018.
Ghafari said in English that she was very grateful to the German government for saving her and her family's lives.
In early July, she was awarded the Human Rights Prize of the Frankfurt-based Ingrid zu Solms Foundation for her work on behalf of women's rights in Afghanistan.
Australia evacuates female Afghan athletes and dependents
Australia has evacuated more than 50 female Afghan athletes and their dependents, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.
Amid fears a protracted visa process would scupper the plan, the refugee advocates secured the help of Australia's former soccer captain, Craig Foster, the ABC said.
Foster successfully lobbied Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Sports Minister Richard Colbeck, according to the broadcaster.
Lecturer in Afghanistan vows to stay
A lecturer on transitional justice at the American University of Afghanistan told DW he would remain in Afghanistan, despite the ongoing exodus.
Obaidullah Bahir said: "I decided that I didn't want to leave because if all of us left, there wouldn't be any hope left for Afghanistan. And there had to be people here who could help the society function, help reconcile the two worlds that are face-to-face with each other now in Afghanistan."
"With regards to the international community," he continued, "they really need to engage with the Taliban, give them viable options. So if NATO's presence is a problem, how about non-NATO nations? How about having a peacekeeping force that helps manage the airport?"
"There are quite a lot of vacuums that need to be filled. And that only happens through engagement."
Australia and New Zealand ramp up evacuations
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said more than 650 people were evacuated from the Kabul airport by Australian and New Zealand officials over Monday night.
Morrison told Nine Network television that the evacuated people included Afghans as well as Australians and New Zealanders.
German concerns for Afghan employees of GIZ
German Development Minister Gerd Müller has warned of a high risk for Afghan employees of development organizations.
He does not trust the recent assurances of the Taliban. "There is already persecution and murder," Müller told Tuesday's edition of the Augsburger Allgemeine.
He had particular concern for the Afghan employees of the German development agency GIZ and other non-governmental organizations. The German government is working "on many many levels and is also working on other options for leaving the country beyond the air evacuation," he told the regional newspaper.
The minister called for an extension to the evacuation measures. He said he supported the British push, "together with the Americans, to do everything we can to get an extension."
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