A Taliban spokesman warned that the United States would be crossing a “red line” if the Biden administration keeps troops in Afghanistan past its declared Aug. 31 deadline.

British media reported that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is widely expected to ask President Biden to extend the deadline at Tuesday’s meeting of the Group of Seven nations.

“If they extend it, that means they are extending occupation. … It will create mistrust between us,” Suhail Shaheen told Sky News in an interview from Doha, Qatar, that aired Monday. “If they are intent on continuing the occupation, it will provoke a reaction,” the Taliban spokesman said.

Biden has said the United States may push back its Aug. 31 deadline to facilitate more evacuations, adding that “our hope is we will not have to extend.” The United States and its allies have evacuated about 37,000 people since the militants swept through the country this month on the heels of the U.S. military withdrawal…

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About 10,400 people were flown out of Afghanistan on U.S. military flights during a 24-hour period ending early Monday Eastern time, the White House announced, reflecting a significant increase in the pace of evacuations.

In addition to those evacuated on 28 U.S. military flights out of the international airport in Kabul, about another 5,900 were flown out on 61 coalition aircraft, according to the White House.

The White House did not provide a breakdown of how many of those evacuated were U.S. citizens.

With the latest evacuations, the U.S. military has now flown out about 37,000 people since Aug. 14, the White House said.

The number evacuated during the recent 24-hour period exceeds what the military recently said was a capacity of 5,000 to 9,000 per day….

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About 260 European Union staffers in Afghanistan cleared a major hurdle to evacuation on Monday morning, when they were escorted into the Kabul airport by French special forces, France’s ambassador to Afghanistan said.

The French team coordinated with U.S. troops to bring the Afghan employees to the airport, a journey made perilous by Taliban checkpoints and the crush of people seeking flights out of the country.

“Bravo to the E.U.,” David Martinon, the ambassador, said on Twitter….

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