Taliban say no deal reached with Turkey & Qatar on jointly operating five Afghan airports

The Taliban, on Saturday, stated that no deal has been finalised with Turkey and Qatar on joint operation of Kabul and four other international airports in Afghanistan. Speaking at a presser, Taliban transport ministry spokesman Imamuddin Ahmadi informed that "no final agreement has been reached so far" even after negotiators from both countries met with Taliban officials on Thursday, Tolo News reported. The meeting comes after Turkish state news agency Anadolu, earlier this week, had reported that joint technical groups from Turkey and Qatar would meet in the coming days to chalk out details of the potential plans to run five international airports in Afghanistan.

"The joint Turkish-Qatari technical team came to Kabul on Thursday and held meetings with the technical teams of (Afghanistan). These meetings will continue and in the near future, they will reach an agreement in light of the country's national interest," Taliban Transport Ministry spokesperson Imamuddin Ahmadi said, as quoted by Sputnik.

This come as Taliban have been facing difficulty to run airports due to lack of adequate resources even months after taking over the war-torn nation, ANI reported. Speaking about the deal, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevult Cavusoglu on December 20 said that a delegation, including Turkish and Qatari technical teams, was supposed to visit Afghanistan to hold talks regarding the ongoing deal on Thursday, Khaama Press reported, citing the FM's conversation with his Malaysian counterpart.

Joint delegation's review report on Afghan airports

Meanwhile, Afghan local media reports have claimed that the joint delegation presented its review report on the condition of the airports in Afghanistan. The five airports which are the part of discussion include Kabul International Airport, which was previously protected and managed by the NATO forces and is currently a major entrance for humanitarian aid. The other four are- Kandahar International Airport, Mazar-e-Sharif International Airport, Khost Airport, and Herat Airport. Once the agreement is signed, international flights from airports in Afghanistan will be operational for 24 hours each day, Tolo News reported on Friday. It is also known that earlier the Taliban had requested Turkey and Qatar to take authority over Kabul Airport when Turkey proposed to send their own protection personnel with a technical team, which the Taliban had refused.

It is to be noted that the Kabul International Airport or erstwhile Hamid Karzai International airport was heavily damaged after the August 26 blast and gunfire in the vicinity of the tarmac. As per Khaama, there were visible bullet marks and broken air traffic services (ATC) and a non-functional civil aviation authority (CAA), which prevented civil aircraft from operating at higher altitudes. A team of Qatari technical experts from the Gulf Arab state then reached Afghanistan on 2 September to help redevelop the tattered airport. 

(Image: AP)