Afghanistan: first commercial flight since Taliban return to power lands in Kabul

As the airline Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had announced on Saturday, one of their planes landed, Monday, September 13, at Kabul airport. It is the very first international commercial flight since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan on August 15, but also one of the first signs of economic normalization for the country and its main international airport.

The aircraft landed around 10:30 a.m. (8 a.m. in Paris) and was carrying only a few people. A spokesperson for the PIA said the company was still working to make the following flights regular.

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“At this stage, we have received 73 requests” interested passengers, “Which is very encouraging”, he added, adding that many requests came from humanitarian aid organizations and journalists wishing to go to Kabul. “There was hardly anyone on the plane, around ten people (…), perhaps more crew members than passengers ”, however, said an AFP journalist who had boarded the flight from Islamabad.

Already two charter flights to Qatar

“It’s an important moment, a day of hope”said a Kabul airport employee, who hoped other companies would quickly follow the PIA’s lead. The plane was then to leave more loaded towards Islamabad. Some 67 passengers, including an American and three Pakistanis, as well as Afghans who have worked with international organizations and their relatives, were waiting to be evacuated on Monday morning, according to the spokesperson for PIA.

After the sudden resumption of power by the Taliban, the Western allies of the ousted government, led by the United States, organized a gigantic airlift at Kabul airport which evacuated more than 123,000 people, mainly Afghans. Thousands of people were then massed around the accesses to the airport in the hope of escaping the regime. This chaotic expectation took a dramatic turn on August 26, when the local branch of ISIS, ISIS, carried out an attack, killing nearly 100 people.

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The Taliban have since taken full control of the airport, assisted in particular by their allies in Qatar. Two charter flights operated by Qatar Airways took off last week, with foreign nationals and Afghans on board who had not been able to be evacuated earlier. On September 3, the Afghan public airline Ariana Afghan Airlines also announced the resumption of its domestic flights.

The World with AFP

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