CIA director held secret meeting with Taliban leader in Kabul

Washington — CIA Director William Burns met with the Taliban's de facto leader in Kabul on Monday, a source familiar with the situation said, in what marks the group's highest-level encounter with the Biden administration since the fall of the Afghan capital.

News of the meeting between Burns and the Taliban leader, Abdul Ghani Baradar, comes one week before the August 31 deadline for the U.S. military to complete its evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies from Kabul. Roughly 21,600 people were evacuated from the capital over a 24-hour period on Monday and Tuesday, including 12,700 evacuees on 37 military flights, a White House official said.  A U.S. defense official said the military expected a decision from the White House on Tuesday on whether or not the U.S. will leave Afghanistan by the August 31 deadline.