[News]Second Qatar Airways passenger flight takes off from Kabul

[Ronaldskk.]

               

 

A second Qatar Airways passenger flight, which arrived in Afghanistan on Friday, has now departed from Kabul airport, a day after more than 100 foreign nationals left on another plane with the Taliban's approval.

 

It is currently unclear how many passengers are on board the plane and what their nationalities are.

The aircraft was seen landing in Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport on Qatari-owned Al Jazeera Arabic television, and aid was seen being unloaded before passengers boarded the plane.

This is the second such flight to depart from the airport. On Thursday, the first international passenger flight to take off from Afghanistan since the chaotic US military airlift last month landed in Qatar, carrying scores of foreign nationals, including Americans.

The planes' departures are the first sign that at least some foreign nationals who want to leave Afghanistan will be able to do so, following weeks of uncertainty. Civilians have been left scrambling to find safe passage from the country since the Taliban takeover in mid-August threw a US-led evacuation effort into confusion.

The aircraft takes off from Kabul airport on September 10.

The aircraft takes off from Kabul airport on September 10.

The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that 49 French citizens and their dependents were "evacuated" Friday from Kabul in an operation assisted by Qatar.

The operation ferried the passengers to Doha, the Qatari capital, from where a flight chartered by the French Foreign Ministry will return them to Paris. The statement did not specify which flight the French citizens and dependents took from Kabul to Doha.

Passengers on board Thursday's chartered Qatar Airways flight that departed from Kabul airport -- including Canadian, Ukrainian, German, British and US citizens -- were among some 200 foreigners that the Taliban have cleared to leave the country, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

Thursday's flight happened after Qatar worked with parties on the ground to transport the passengers in a Qatari convoy and secure a safe passage to Kabul's airport.

Flight lands in Qatar after Taliban cleared Americans and others to leave Afghanistan

Flight lands in Qatar after Taliban cleared Americans and others to leave Afghanistan

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Than, Qatar's deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, thanked the Taliban for their "cooperation" in restarting flights, adding that this was a signal that the militant group's "positive statements" can be "demonstrated into action."

The cooperation was also praised by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, who said it offered "another concrete demonstration" of the administration's commitment to help US citizens and others depart Afghanistan if they choose to do so.

The top US diplomat said the departure of the flight "was the result of the Department's regular and close engagement with our regional partners, particularly with Qatari authorities, who facilitated [Thursday's] flight."

"We also have been in regular -- typically daily -- contact with Americans remaining in Afghanistan. We have provided them, including those aboard this flight, with specific guidance and instructions. Our message to those who remain in Afghanistan is simple: if you wish to depart Afghanistan, we will help you do so," he said.

This comes after Blinken blamed the grounding of charter flights in Mazar-i-Sharif, northern Afghanistan, on the Taliban, saying that the militant group was not allowing them to leave. The Taliban claimed "that some of the passengers do not have the required documentation," Blinken said.