A team from Qatar arrived in Afghanistan on Wednesday to help the country’s national flag carrier and the airport in the capital Kabul to resume operations.
Commercial planes of Ariana Afghan Airlines, as well as military jets and helicopters at the airport, were allegedly damaged by US forces who made an unceremonious exit from Afghanistan a day ago.
A real honor to be on with @mitchellreports for the first time. And nice to be able to break a little news on air:
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A Qatari team flew into Kabul today for talks with the Taliban on what it'll take to re-open the airport. pic.twitter.com/elMq2tzX9D
The team arrived on a Qatar Airways flight, which was the first to land at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport since the Taliban took full control of the facility in the early hours of Tuesday.
The Qatari team will provide technical assistance to help make the Afghan national flag carrier and the airport operational, according to a Qatari official who requested anonymity.
The team was dispatched to Kabul at the request of the new Taliban administration, he added.
The official said negotiations on the operations and security of the airport are ongoing.
On Tuesday, a Taliban leader and Ariana officials told Anadolu Agency that the departing US troops had damaged civilian aircraft and the airport’s terminals and radar system.
Watch: A Qatari aircraft lands in #Kabul carrying a technical team to discuss the resumption of airport operations after the Taliban takeover of #Afghanistan, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.https://t.co/xlgRxMM8m0 pic.twitter.com/KJRDORsyxV
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) September 1, 2021
Ahmed Syar Rahat, the maintenance director for the Afghan national flag carrier, said it would take at least $10 million and a month’s time to get the planes back into flying condition.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
