Teams working to re-establish Kabul airport operations

KABUL: Taliban says the efforts to remove technical problems at the Kabul airport have been accelerated.

Taliban officials from Kabul Airport said that technical teams from Qatar and Turkey have accelerated their efforts to resolve technical and operational problems at the airport. Domestic and humanitarian aid flights have resumed at the Kabul airport, but commercial flights have yet to restart, with the exception of a flight from Pakistan and another from Iran. Abdul Hadi Hamadan, head of the Kabul airport, said teams are working to resolve the problems and normalize flights at the airport. He added that: “Emirate and Qatar teams are jointly working to show to the world that everything is going well here, and flights have been resumed.”

According to some reports, Qatar was said to be ensuring security for Kabul International Airport, but reportedly it has said it will not take the responsibility unless all parties agree. Qatar has been supporting Afghanistan in the re-establishment of the Kabul airport operations, as well as in other areas. “We need to make sure that everything is addressed very clearly otherwise… we are not able to take any responsibility of the airport (if) all these things are not addressed,” Qatar Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said at a press briefing.

“Right now the status is still (under) negotiation because we need to have an agreement that’s clear for everyone for all the parties and who is going to take care of the technical (side), who’s going to take care of the security aspects,” said Al-Thani, adding: “There is a possibility for collaboration with other countries if needed, but until now the discussion is only among us and Turkey and the Taliban.” A French journalist traveling to Kandahar said: “(There is) very good security that you see once you enter the surroundings of the airport. It is a good distance between the street and the terminal.”