Washington, 24 August 2021 (dpa/MIA) - CIA chief William Burns was flown into Kabul for a one-to-one meeting with the powerful deputy head of the Taliban, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. The newspaper cited government sources in confirming the talks on Monday, the highest-ranking meeting so far between the government of US President Joe Biden and the Taliban since the Islamists took power in Afghanistan just over a week ago. The CIA declined to confirm the meeting with Baradar, who is regarded as a possible future head of government. In view of the evacuation mission at Kabul airport, the US government is in regular contact with the Taliban. The spokesman for the US Defense Department, John Kirby, said on Monday that they were communicating "several times a day" with the Taliban. The question currently arises as to whether the international evacuation operation in Kabul could possibly be extended beyond August 31. Biden had originally promised to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by that date. The Taliban have insisted that Washington keeps this promise and have referred to the August 31 deadline a “red line” that should not be crossed. However, it is questionable whether it will be possible to get all foreign citizens and Afghan aid workers out of the country by then.