Afghanistan updates: US, Taliban hold first direct talks since withdrawal

The Taliban held a press conference in Kabul Tuesday and answered questions on the new "Islamic Emirate" it has claimed in Afghanistan. 

Asked what assurances the Taliban can give to women and girls that the rights they've exercised for the past 20 years will be protected, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said, as translated from Arabic, "Women will be afforded all their rights." 

"Whether it is at work or other activities, because women are a key part of society, and we are guaranteeing all their rights -- within the limits of Islam," he said. 

When the Taliban last ruled, it enforced a strict version of Shariah -- or Islamic law -- and barred women from working or studying. Rina Amiri, a senior fellow at New York University's Center for Global Affairs and fellow at the Center for International Cooperation Rena Amiri, told ABC News Live earlier Tuesday that women have no reason to believe that will change now that the Taliban has seized back control. 

"They're hiding in their homes because the Taliban has been coming to their doors. I've received so many calls where they have been intimidating them and their families," she said of the women in Afghanistan, fearful of the Taliban. "They're creating a climate of incredible repression and threat."

"What we see in Afghanistan is not a new Taliban that's better for women. We see one that's more strategic more brutal and far more effective," she added. 

Amiri stressed that women who've been activists or leaders in the community are in imminent danger. 

"It's laudable that the administration wants to help those that work directly for the U.S., but these are the U.S.'s strongest allies and supporters -- the women and the human rights defenders in the country -- and they are being abandoned, to a terrible fate," she said.

Pentagon officials said the U.S. will have up to 4,000 troops on the ground in Kabul by the end of the day as the military races to continue its evacuation efforts ahead of the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline the administration has set.

U.S. Army Major Gen. William Taylor of Joint Staff Operations told reporters in a press briefing at the Pentagon Tuesday that the U.S. has the capacity to evacuate 5,000 to 9,000 individuals a day now on a mix between commercial and military aircraft. However, operations may depend on whether the Taliban will allow those commercial planes to fly.

It comes as bipartisan lawmakers express concern with getting out Afghan allies who are unable to access the airport in Kabul as surrounding streets are patrolled by the Taliban.

The White House said Tuesday that both sides of the airport are now open and operational with flights able to land and depart. There were 3,500 U.S. troops on the ground to help control airport operations as of Tuesday morning.

More than 700 people were evacuated by the U.S. military on Monday, including 150 American citizens, officials said.

The Taliban's co-founder and de facto leader Mullah Baradar returned to the country Tuesday, leading a Taliban delegation that arrived in Kandahar and taking his first step onto Afghan soil in at least a decade, according to the Taliban spokesperson. 

Baradar led the Taliban negotiating team in talks with the Trump administration, securing a U.S. military withdrawal and the release of thousands of Taliban prisoners -- longtime goals of the group. He remains sanctioned by the U.S. and United Nations as a terrorist, although he was granted a waiver after being released from a Pakistani prison to travel to Doha, Qatar, and participate in negotiations with the U.S.

"This afternoon, a high-level delegation from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan headed by Mullah Baradar Akhund left Qatar and arrived in our beloved country this afternoon and landed at Kandahar Airport," a spokesperson for the Taliban said on Twitter, translated from Arabic.

Seizing control of the country after the Afghanistan president fled, the Taliban has now claimed the formation of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in a press conference said the North Atlantic Council has met to discuss Afghanistan, calling the situation there "extremely serious and unpredictable."

"Kabul has fallen, and the Taliban have taken control of most of the country. I am deeply saddened by what I see unfolding in Afghanistan," he said. 

NATO’s focus now is to ensure the safe departure of personnel from Allied and partner countries, and of the Afghans who have helped in the mission.

Like Biden, Stoltenberg said NATO never intended to stay in Afghanistan "forever" and pointed to the "failure of Afghan leadership" for leading to the unfolding humanitarian crisis.

"Despite our considerable investment and sacrifice over two decades, the collapse was swift and sudden," he said. "There are many lessons to be learned."