G7 leaders to discuss Afghanistan crisis on Tuesday

• G7 summit will be convened by Britain PM Boris Johnson. 
• G7 foreign ministers urged Taliban to provide safe passage for those trying to flee the capital on Thursday. 
• Heads of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States to discuss the Afghanistan crisis on Tuesday. 

LONDON: Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Sunday that G7 leaders will discuss the Afghan crisis on Tuesday during a virtual summit. 

The summit is taking place roughly after a week since the Taliban took power in Kabul, Afghanistan. Johnson will convene the summit. 

"It is vital that the international community works together to ensure safe evacuations, prevent a humanitarian crisis and support the Afghan people to secure the gains of the last 20 years," the British prime minister tweeted. 

The United Kingdom currently occupies the chair of the G7 comprising of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. 

It is reported that Johnson had been pushing for a meeting the past week.

The Western allies have faced mounting criticism over their handling of the crisis in Afghanistan as chaotic scenes of thousands of Afghans and foreigners trying to flee Kabul surfaced following the Taliban's return to power. 

Following a virtual meeting on Thursday, G7 foreign ministers urged the Taliban to provide safe passage for those trying to flee the capital, the bloc's first formal statement on the crisis.

In June, the G7 held its first in-person summit in nearly two years, in Cornwall southwest England. In June, coronavirus and confronting China's increasing assertiveness dominated the agenda of the G7. 

Since then, the Taliban launched a nationwide offensive and surprised the West by recapturing most of Afghanistan within weeks, as the United States and its allies withdrew from its two-decade military involvement. 

The US has currently sent thousands of troops temporarily to try to secure the airport and help evacuate its nationals and Afghans who helped them. The deadline to complete the airlifts is August 31.

However, allies including the UK, have suggested they would support extending the deadline, an issue likely to feature prominently at Tuesday's discussion.