Flight lands in Qatar after Taliban clears evacuees to leave Afghanistan

Friday, September 10, 2021

The first international passenger flight to take off from Afghanistan since the chaotic US military airlift last month took place in Qatar on Thursday.

The plane which departed from Kabul Airport carried more than 100 foreign nationals which include Americans too.

Among the 200 onboard passengers of the chartered Qatar Airways, there were Canadian, Ukrainian, German, British and US citizens.

The plane’s departure is the first signal that at least some departing foreign nationals in Afghanistan will be able to leave.

Civilians have been left scrambling to find safe passage from the country.

This happened since the Taliban takeover in mid-August threw a US-led evacuation effort into confusion.

Live pictures showed people disembarking the Qatar Airways Boeing 777 on Thursday evening Doha time.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Than, Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs thanked the Taliban for their cooperation in restarting flights.

The cooperation was also praised by the US.

The Taliban have been facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents on charter flights.

Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority is preparing for more flights to start operating from Kabul, according to an aviation source.

Other international flights are expected in the coming days.

A Qatari technical team has been in the country for the past 10 days, helping Afghan officials restore airport operations.

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