Taliban warns there will be ’consequences’ if Biden delays withdrawal of US troops

The Taliban has warned Joe Biden that there will “be consequences” if the US keeps any troops in Afghanistan past the end of August.

Suhail Shaheen, a spokesperson for the militant group, said the 31 August deadline set by the US president was a “red line” and must be respected.

This comes as Boris Johnson is set to use an emergency meeting of G7 world leaders on Tuesday to ask US president Joe Biden to keep American forces in Afghanistan beyond August in order to allow evacuation flights to continue.

Mr Biden said over the weekend that discussions were already taking place about extending the deadline, but that “our hope is we will not have to”.

Meanwhile, a gunfight broke out between Afghan security and “unknown attackers” at Kabul’s international airport this morning, with the Germany military reporting that an Afghan soldier had died as a result.

It was not immediately clear if the attackers were part of the Taliban, who are manning the outside perimeters of the airport, or not. The group has so far resisted opening fire on Nato or Afghan troops within the building.