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Updated September 2nd, 2021 at 20:29 IST

Qatar Airways 1st commercial plane to land at Kabul after US' exit; technical team arrives

“Qatar Airways has just landed at Kabul International Airport,” said Ahmadullah Muttaqi, the self-declared chief of ‘Multimedia Branch’ in Afghanistan

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
Qatar Airways
IMAGE: Twitter/ | Image:self
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A Qatar Airways plane carrying a technical team landed on Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Thursday to assist the Taliban in the resumption of the airport operations. On Friday, Qatari-based Al Jazeera news channel had reported that the Taliban, which now controls Afghanistan after the complete US withdrawal on August 31, has asked Qatar for technical assistance to start operating the Kabul airport. It is the first flight to arrive at the Kabul airport since the US troops left Afghanistan.

The hardline Islamist extremist faction, Taliban, has also requested Turkey for technical assistance to run the airport, which, as per the US Federal Aviation Administration is now “uncontrolled” without air traffic control services (ATC).

As the last plane carrying the US soldiers left Kabul on August 31, the US barred all civil aircraft from flying over the Afghanistan air corridor without prior authorisation unless permitted. 

FAA said in a statement, “Due to both the lack of air traffic services and a functional civil aviation authority in Afghanistan, as well as ongoing security concerns, US civil operators, pilots, and U.S.-registered civil aircraft are prohibited from operating at any altitude over much of Afghanistan." 

As the airport was left non-operational after the US pullout, the Taliban sought technical help from Qatar, which emerged as a key player post the US-led evacuation efforts. A Qatari plane from the Gulf Arab state touched down in Afghanistan at the civilian side of the Kabul airport. 

“Qatar Airways has just landed at Kabul International Airport,” said Ahmadullah Muttaqi, the self-declared chief of ‘Multimedia Branch’ of The Cultural Commission, Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan.

Kabul airport in bad shape, Turkey unresponsive on 'technical help' to Taliban

Sources told the local news agencies that the infrastructure at the Kabul airport is in bad shape after the US military draw down. Even as the Taliban asked the Turkish troops for technical assistance, the final ultimatum lied with the Turkish forces on whether to extend help or not. There have been no clear reports on Turkey’s response yet. But Qatar flew out a technical team to Kabul even though there has been no official agreement as such signed by both the parties, sources say.

Turkish news agencies, although, have learnt that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan refused help with airport operations to the Taliban following NATO's withdrawal, citing threats made by Taliban to Turkey earlier with regards to Turkish security presence in Afghanistan. 

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Published September 2nd, 2021 at 20:29 IST

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