Travel takes off in Kabul

Pakistan International Airlines on Monday ran the first international commercial flight to Afghanistan since the Taliban took over the country, officials said.

Flight PK6429, which was chartered by The World Bank, landed in Kabul and then returned to Islamabad. The Boeing 777 carried bank officials and journalists, airline spokesman Abdullah Khan told Reuters.

“It was a special chartered commercial flight,” Khan said. “We also accommodated other individuals who wanted to leave Afghanistan since we had space on the plane.”

PIA COO Arshad Malik said in a statement: “We hope that we will be able to resume a complete operation soon.”

About 70 people were aboard the flight to Pakistan, mostly Afghans who were relatives of employees with international organizations such as The World Bank, airport ground staff told Agence France-Presse.

“I am being evacuated. My final destination is Tajikistan,” a 35year-old World Bank evacuee, who did not want to give her name, told AFP. “I will come back here only if the situation allows women to work and move freely.”

A PIA rep said it was too soon to say how frequently flights would operate.