Afghanistan: first international commercial flight to Kabul since the return of the Taliban

Published on : 09/13/2021 – 10:26

An international commercial flight, the first since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan and operated by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) from Islamabad, touched down in Kabul on Monday. The signs of a return to normal in the Afghan skies have been increasing for ten days.

A plane from Pakistani company PIA landed Monday, September 13 at Kabul airport, the first international commercial flight since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan on August 15.

This is one of the first signs of economic normalization for the country and its main international airport, which had been besieged at the end of August by thousands of Afghans wanting to leave the country after the return to power of the Islamist movement.

The PIA aircraft, which landed around 10:30 a.m. local time (6 a.m. GMT), was carrying only a few people. “There was hardly anyone on board the plane, about ten people (…), maybe more crew members than passengers”, described an AFP journalist on board this flight from Islamabad.

On Sunday, a spokesperson for the PIA confirmed this first flight to Kabul, specifying, however, that the company was still working to make them regular.

“This is an important moment, a day of hope,” an employee at Kabul airport, wearing a long, traditional blue shirt, told AFP who hoped other companies would follow suit quickly. example of the PIA and fly again to Kabul.

Gradual return to normal

After the sudden resumption of power by the Taliban, the Western allies of the ousted government, led by the United States, organized a gigantic airlift at Kabul airport which in total evacuated more than 123,000 people, mainly Afghan.

The chaotic and desperate expectation of Afghans took a dramatic turn on August 26 when the local branch of the Islamic State organization (IS-K) carried out an attack in the middle of the crowd, killing more than 100 people.

The Taliban have since taken full control of the airport and signs of a return to normal have multiplied over the past ten days.

Two charter flights operated by Qatar Airways took off last week with foreign nationals and Afghans on board who could not be evacuated at first.

On September 3, the Afghan public airline Ariana Airlines also announced the resumption of its domestic flights.

With AFP

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