Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, who was accompanying Qatari officials, said they were grateful to Qatari authorities for getting Kabul airport operational and bringing in humanitarian supplies.
At least 200 non-Afghans, including Americans, are expected to be evacuated from Kabul in the first airlift since the US withdrew its forces following Taliban airport operations, according to the AFP agency.
According to reports, the foreign nationals will leave from Kabul on charter flights on Thursday. A Qatar Airways flight landed in Kabul on Thursday morning, carrying US citizens and other foreign nationals, becoming the first international flight to take off from Kabul airport since the Taliban’s takeover of the capital in August.
Speaking to the media at Kabul airport, Qatari officials confirmed that a Qatar Airways flight will be carrying foreigners leaving from Afghanistan. A Qatari official said, “Kabul airport is now fully operational. And today Qatar took its first international flight from Doha to Kabul. And now the same charter battle will be with foreigners.”
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, who was accompanying Qatari officials, said they were grateful to Qatari authorities for getting Kabul airport operational and bringing in humanitarian supplies.
“The Kabul airport will be fully operational. Our Qatari brothers have confirmed that all technical issues have been resolved. We expect more international flights to come here in the coming days,” he said.
When asked about foreign nationals going to Afghanistan, Qatari officials called it a “free passage”, not an evacuation. “I won’t call it an evacuation, I’ll stay it’s a safe route. There are a large number of Americans and Westerners on the flight. Everyone has been given boarding passes,” he said.
Qatari officials also revealed that Qatar Airways will send in another flight with humanitarian aid on Friday, saying more people will be evacuated in what it referred to as a safe route for foreigners to leave Afghanistan.
It was also learned that in the coming days, the two main routes of flights will be made operational and the aircraft landing at Kabul airport with humanitarian assistance will be from Qatar and Pakistan.
(with IANS inputs)
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