G7 leaders will be under pressure to present a united front at an emergency summit on Afghanistan on Tuesday despite public divisions over the deadline to complete evacuations from the country by 31 August.

With the deadline to get out of Kabul looming, British prime minister Boris Johnson will chair online talks where, diplomatic sources told Reuters, G7 nations were expected to show unity on areas including whether to sanction or officially recognize the Taliban to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and protect the human rights of vulnerable groups.

The talks come amid desperate scenes in Kabul, where countries including the US and UK are scrambling to get people out. Evacuations were being conducted on a “war footing” one Nato diplomat told Reuters on Tuesday. US special forces said on Monday they had retrieved 16 US citizens from a site two hours outside Kabul, and brought them back to the airport for evacuation processing.