Taliban restart domestic flights from Kabul airport for the first time since US exit (photos)

The Taliban militant group controlling Afghanistan have restarted domestic flights from Kabul airport in a bid to receive aid from international community.

It’s the first time flights have occured in the country since the US withdrew all its forces, and most of its diplomats and allies from Afghanistan on August 31,  grounding flights in and out of the country.

Afghanistan’s impoverished economy has been thrown into chaos following the fall of the Ashraf Ghani government to the Taliban and without aid that has sustained the country for years, the Islamists will find it hard to avert economic collapse.

As one-third of the country is facing food insecurity and is in need of funds, 
Western countries have said that they are prepared to engage with the ruling Taliban and send aid but that the formal recognition of regime and broader assistance will depend on action to safeguard civil liberties of citizens most especially women.

On Saturday, September 4, following help from the Qatari government who sent engineers who repair the airstrip, the Taliban  restarted domestic flights from Kabul airport but fed-up Afghans are still struggling to get cash out of the capital city’s banks which remain closed as the Islamist militant group attempts to consolidate its authority over Afghanistan. 

The Qatari Ambassador to Kabul, Saeed bin Mubarak Al-Khayarin Al-Hajar, said that a technical team was able to reopen Hamid Karzai international airport on Saturday to receive aid from the international community, Al-Jazeera news channel reported.

According to Aljazeera, two domestic flights were operated from Kabul to the cities of  Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar.

It is thought that the reopening of Kabul airport, which had been closed since the end of the US-led withdrawal on August 31, will facilitate an influx of humanitarian aid to help avert what the United Nations has called a ‘looming humanitarian catastrophe’.
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Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, speaking at a news conference with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in Doha, said the Gulf state was talking to the Taliban and working with Turkey for potential technical support to restart operations in Kabul airport especially foreign flights.