The Taliban urged international airlines to resume flights to Kabul on Sunday (September 26). They ensure that all the technical problems of the main Afghan airport are now resolved.
The capital’s airport equipment was severely damaged during the chaotic evacuation of more than 120,000 people wanting to leave the country following the return of the Taliban to power, which ended on August 30 with the withdrawal of the last. American soldiers of the country. Since then, only charter flights have taken place, although the companies Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Iranian Mahan Air and Afghan Kam Air have made some special flights.
The international community intends to heed the promise of the Taliban to let go all those who wish to leave the country when commercial flights resume.
More than 1,000 euros for a forty-minute flight
Currently, PIA and Kam Air charge over € 1,000 for a forty-minute one-way trip between Kabul and Islamabad. Even at this price – linked to insurance covering war risks, according to the companies – the flights offered are struggling to meet demand.
This is why the Taliban are hoping that normal commercial flights will be quickly restored, reported Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a new spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry. “Many Afghan citizens have found themselves stranded abroad, without the possibility of returning to their homeland”, he said in a statement. “In addition, many Afghan citizens employed abroad or studying outside the country now face difficulties in reaching their destination.”, he added.
Kabul airport activity has resumed thanks mainly to technical assistance from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.
Ruthless measures
The day before the call, the Taliban had hanged the bodies of four men, guilty of kidnapping a businessman and his son, from cranes after killing them in a shootout in the town of Herat. , in the west of the country, according to a senior official.
Deputy Governor of Herat Province Mawlawi Shir Ahmad Muhajir said the men’s bodies were displayed in several city squares on the same day they died “In order to teach the other kidnappers a lesson so that they do not kidnap or harass anyone”.
This public punishment is the most spectacular since the Taliban took power last month. This process seems to indicate that the Islamists are ready to adopt ruthless measures, similar to those they applied from 1996 to 2001.
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