Taliban terrorists said Sunday that Afghanistan’s skies are safe for the return of international flights, adding all technical issues at the main Kabul airport have been resolved.
Facilities at the capital’s air transport hub were badly damaged in the chaotic evacuation of more than 120,000 people that ended August 30 with the withdrawal of the last U.S. and allied troops.
AFP reports since then only charter flights have been operating to the newly declared Islamic Caliphate, although Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Iran’s Mahan Air and Afghanistan’s Kam Air have run a limited number of special flights.
A Taliban fighter sits in the cockpit of an Afghan Air Force aircraft at the airport in Kabul on August 31, 2021. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images)
As Breitbart News reported, Kabul’s airport, named “Hamid Karzai” after the corrupt former president, was the site of weeks of chaos following the Taliban’s seizure of the capital city on August 15.
The tarmac and associated facilities were overrun as thousands of Afghans desperately tried to board evacuation flights to the United States and beyond.
Abdul Qahar Balkhi, newly appointed spokesman for the ministry of foreign affairs, said the Taliban now hoped proper commercial services would resume shortly.
Taliban fighters check the cockpit of a damaged Afghan Air Force helicopter at a hangar at the airport in Kabul on September 14, 2021. (Karim Sahib/AFP via Getty Images)
“Many Afghan citizens were stuck outside and unable to return to their homeland,” he said in a statement.
“Moreover, many Afghan citizens who have international employment or pursue education abroad are now facing difficulties in reaching their destinations.”
Services at Kabul airport were restored mostly with technical help from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.
AFP contributed to this story