SOME DOMESTIC FLIGHTS RESUME FROM KABUL AIRPORT; QATAR FLIES IN AID
KABUL: Some domestic flights have resumed at Afghanistan’s international airport in Kabul, with the state-run Ariana Afghan Airline operating flights to three provinces.
Shershah Stor, the airline’s station manager at the airport, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the flights took place on Saturday to western Herat, southern Kandahar and northern Balkh provinces. He said the flights were conducted without a functioning radar system at the airport.
Stor said three more flights were scheduled on Sunday to the same provinces.
The airport in Kabul and its surrounding areas had turned into a hub of chaos ever since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in mid-August, with thousands of people crowding and jostling to get on board one of numerous evacuation flights to flee Taliban rule.
A team of Qatari and Turkish technicians had arrived in Kabul last week to help restart operations at the airport, which the United Nations says is crucial to providing the war-torn country with humanitarian assistance. It remains to be seen, however, whether any commercial airlines will be willing to offer service.
Qatar, meanwhile, has flown humanitarian aid into Kabul and said it will operate daily aid flights to Afghanistan over the next few days, providing much-needed supplies following a hiatus in much western aid due to Taliban’s takeover last month.
Qatar has emerged as a key interlocutor between western nations and the Taliban, after developing close ties with the militant group through hosting its political office since 2013.
A Qatari aid flight carrying medical supplies and food products arrived in Kabul on Saturday and Qatari ambassador to Afghanistan Saeed bin Mubarak al Khayareen was at the airport for its arrival, the Gulf state’s foreign ministry said.
Qatar has helped reopen the airport, which closed for several days after the United States-led airlift of its citizens, Afghans and other nationals ended last month.
Half of Afghanistan’s 40 million people, including 10 million children, required humanitarian assistance as of the start of this year, the International Organization for Migration said late last month, adding that needs were expected to rise.