3 Pakistani planes carrying aid have reached Afghanistan: ambassador

Three medical planes carrying medical and food aid from Islamabad have reached Kabul, Ambassador of Pakistan to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmed Khan said Saturday.

The latest C-130 plane carrying relief goods had reached Khost earlier in the day. The ambassador, in a tweet, had said that the goods were handed over to the city's authorities.

"The Afghan cabinet members have started working [...] the biggest challenges that Afghanistan faces are economic governance and restoration of banking services," the ambassador told Geo News.

Another major challenge that Afghanistan faces is the shortage of essential commodities, and in this regard, Pakistan has helped them by providing aid in terms of food and medicines.

The ambassador said Turkey and Qatar have restored operations at Kabul airport, while Pakistan plans on resuming commercial flights to Afghanistan soon.

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will resume flights from Islamabad to Kabul next week, a spokesman told AFP today, becoming the first foreign commercial service since the Taliban seized power last month.

Kabul airport was severely damaged during a chaotic evacuation of over 120,000 people that ended with the withdrawal of US forces on August 30. The Taliban have been scrambling to get it operating again with Qatari technical assistance.

"We have got all technical clearances for flight operations," PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan told AFP.

"Our first commercial plane... is scheduled to fly from Islamabad to Kabul on September 13."

Meanwhile, Ambassador Khan said Pakistan, along with the international community, was making efforts to help establish a stable system and government in Afghanistan.

"Terrorist organisations will not find space to operate once a stable government is formed," the ambassador added.