Afghanistan: UAE holds talks with Taliban on operation of Kabul Airport

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has held talks with the Taliban administration to run Kabul airport, going up against Qatar in a diplomatic tussle for influence with Afghanistan. According to Reportwire, several UAE officials have held a sequence of discussions with a group of Taliban members in recent weeks to debate upon the possibilities of operating the airport. Notably, the Kabul International Airport serves as the main link between the conflict-hit country and the rest of the world and played a pivotal role in August's evacuation missions. 

While Turkey had initially offered to manage the airport, it later subsided stating that its troops could not take the onus in an “atmosphere where security is provided by Taliban.” Taliban, which had by then declared the Islamic Emirate further asserted that they wanted Ankara to only provide “technical support.” Interestingly, Turkish troops had been providing security to the country’s main airport for the past six years.

Taliban renamed the airport in September

Earlier in September, the Taliban rechristened the International airport in the capital city of the war-torn country. The airport, which earlier went by the name 'Hamid Karzai International Airport', on the order of the insurgent group, was renamed by the name 'Kabul Airport', as per the Afghan media. After the Taliban stormed into Kabul on August 15, forcing the Ashraf Ghani-led government to surrender, the airport became an epicentre of chaos, where thousands every day were seen in misery, some so desperate to leave the war-torn country that they clung on to the wheels of the airplanes flying out and as soon as the plane took off, fell to their death. Besides, a few others lost their lives in the firings of the Taliban which the extremist group falsely claimed did not lead to casualties while the pictures of blood-soaked people lying on the ground that surfaced after the said firings depicted a different story.

There has, however, been no case of firing, or other chaotic incidents reported after the Taliban gained control of the Kabul airport following the withdrawal of the last batch of US troops from Afghanistan on August 31. On the other hand, there has been less cause for Afghans to visit the airport as civilian flight operations are far from full scale.

Image: AP