First flight of foreign nationals from Kabul after Taliban came to power

For the first time since the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan, more than 100 foreign nationals arrived in Doha on a flight from Kabul airport. It is hoped that these flights will continue. According to the US, the Taliban have shown cooperation.

Nearly 113 American, German and Afghan citizens, mostly dual nationals, landed at Doha airport in the capital of Qatar. This is the first flight since the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan.

According to a report in the Washington Post, the passenger list of the Qatar Airways flight included 211 Afghans with dual citizenship, people with passports from Germany, the United States, Canada, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands and Ukraine. But so far only about 113 passengers have been reported to have left. AFP also learned on Thursday from a source in Doha that about 200 foreigners were leaving Kabul for Doha.

Among the passengers who have arrived in Qatar are 15 German citizens. Another group is expected to be able to be transferred from Afghanistan to Doha on Friday.

A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry said the flight was made possible with the help of the Qatari government and that most of the passengers were women and children. He said the opportunity was very unexpected. Germany is working to arrange additional flights in the coming days and to inform those who need to leave.

The US National Security Council announced that the Taliban had shown their cooperation in the operation. Mutlaq al-Qahtani, Qatar’s special envoy for Afghanistan, called it a “historic day” and an important step towards “reopening Kabul airport to international flights.”

He also expressed hope that another flight would take place on Friday. After the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, air transport at Kabul airport and evacuation flights for citizens who wanted to leave Afghanistan were suspended.

In the weeks leading up to the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan, about 123,000 people left the country through Kabul airport. But many translators and other local staff for foreign forces were unable to leave the country, and many of them now fear Taliban retaliation.

Source: DW