Pakistan announces commercial flight between Islamabad and Kabul, first since Taliban return to power

A semblance of normality seems to return to Kabul after the takeover of power by the Taliban. A first commercial flight should connect, Monday, the capital of Pakistan to that of Afghanistan, announced the airline company Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). “We have all the technical authorizations for air operations”, said on Saturday September 11, Abdullah Hafeez Khan, a spokesperson for PIA at Agence France-Presse.

“Our first Airbus A320 commercial aircraft will take off from Islamabad for Kabul on September 13. “ “At this stage, we have received 73 requests” interested passengers, “Which is very encouraging”, he added, adding that many requests came from humanitarian aid organizations and journalists wishing to go to Kabul.

This is the first commercial flight announced since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan on August 15 and the last American troops left the country on August 30.

Resumption of evacuation flights

A first international passenger flight – but not a commercial one – took off from Kabul on Thursday. Another followed Friday, operated by Qatar Airways, with 158 passengers on board, including Americans, Germans, Canadians, French, Dutch, Belgians and Mauritians.

At the end of August, the Kabul airport had the scene of scenes of chaos: thousands of Afghans, frightened by the return of the Taliban, tried desperately to board the gigantic airlift organized, among others, by the United States. In total, more than 123,000 people, mainly Afghans, had been evacuated as part of the process marked on August 26 by a deadly attack claimed by ISIS in Khorassan (EI-K), the branch of the state. Islamic in Afghanistan.

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The World with AFP