First flight since airlift out of Kabul lands in Qatar
September 9, 2021
Qatari officials say a Qatar Airways flight that departed Kabul with Americans on board has landed in Doha. The flight departed with over 100 passengers.
Some 200 passengers were on the flight from Kabul to Doha on ThursdayImage: Karim Jaafar/AFP
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More than 100 passengers, including citizens of the United States and several other Western nations, on a Qatar Airways flight from Taliban-controlled Kabul landed in Doha on Thursday.
It was the first time a civilian, international flight departed the Kabul airport since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan last month.
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What we know about the flight
"We managed to fly the first plane with passengers just an hour ago," Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said, thanking the Taliban for helping reopen the airport.
Qatari officials said Thursday that Taliban authorities permitted a flight out of Kabul for passengers who had the proper documents. The officials added that between 100-150 Americans and other Westerners were on the plane and 200 more people would fly out of Afghanistan on Friday.
The German Foreign Ministry said 15 German citizens were on the flight.
The US State Department later said that 10 US citizens and 11 permanent residents were among the passengers.
Footage on Doha-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera on Thursday showed people at the airport, including women, children and elderly passengers all with luggage as well as the plane later taking off and then passengers deplaning a few hours later in Doha.
A Canadian man told the Arab satellite network at the Kabul airport that he was grateful to the Qataris.
A large group of foreigners were aboard the flight to DohaImage: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images
US continues efforts to evacuate citizens from Afghanistan
After the plane's arrival in Doha, the White House said communication with the Taliban to organize the fight was "businesslike and professional" and "a positive first step."
While the Taliban have said people could continue to leave Afghanistan after the US withdrawal, in recent days charter flights attempting to depart the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif have been held up by the Islamist militant group now in control of the country.
The US had said previously that approximately 100 Americans remain in Kabul, as well as thousands of Afghan allies and their families who did not manage to make it out.
The White House on Thursday approved a plan put forward by the Department of Defense for the US to cooperate with volunteer groups, former US Special Forces and others with knowledge of Afghanistan attempting to evacuate people from the country, Politico reported.
In pictures: The Kabul evacuation mission
Thousands of people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since the Taliban seized control in mid-August. But many will be left behind and face a high risk of retribution as the airlift enters its final days.
Image: U.S. Air Force/Getty Images
US helicopters evacuate embassy personnel
As the Taliban entered the capital, a US Chinook military helicopter evacuates American employees from the US Embassy in Kabul on August 15, 2021. Germany has also sent a pair of smaller helicopters to Kabul to assist in evacuation efforts.
Image: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images
The struggle to reach Kabul's airport
Thousands of people rushed to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on August 16 and the following days with hopes of leaving Afghanistan. Dramatic scenes played out as people tried to access the airport and the relative safety from the Taliban it appeared to offer.
Image: Reuters
Desperate to escape the Taliban
Attempts to flee Afghanistan led hundreds of people to run alongside planes in attempts to climb aboard. The dangerous undertaking led to several deaths as people fell off planes while they were taking off, and human remains were also found in one plane's landing gear wheel well.
Image: AP Photo/picture alliance
Two decades later, Taliban back in control
After battling Afghan and international troops for two decades, the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan with apparent ease after troops from the United States, Germany and other countries began to withdraw. These Taliban fighters patrol a Kabul district market days after taking over the Afghan capital.
Image: Hoshang Hashimi/AFP
Safe — for the time being
People packed their way into any flights that would bring them out of Afghanistan. The people in this German Air Force transport plane flew to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Most of the military planes leaving Kabul head to Uzbekistan, Doha or Islamabad where passengers are processed and travel on to other destinations.
Image: Marc Tessensohn/Bundeswehr/Reuters
A helping hand
Afghan refugees at the Ramstein US Air Base in Germany are in dire need of supplies. The Air Base is providing temporary lodging for thousands of evacuees from Afghanistan as part of Operation Allies Refuge.
Image: Airman Edgar Grimaldo/AP/picture alliance
Life under Taliban rule
Burqa-clad Afghan women shop at a market in Kabul on August 23 — days after the Taliban's takeover of the country. The International Organization for Migration issued an urgent appeal for $24 million to help support the more than 5 million people displaced in Afghanistan and living in "extremely precarious" conditions.
Image: Hoshang Hashimi/AFP
Safe passage
A US Marine escorts a child to his family during the evacuation operation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on August 24, 2021. US President Joe Biden confirmed the United States will pull out all troops by August 31.
Image: Sgt. Samuel Ruiz/U.S. Marine Corps/Reuters
Thousands will be left behind
Even as thousands of people continued to gather at Kabul's airport, the US State Department warned Americans against traveling to the airport. Explosions later tore through an area just outside Hamid Karzai International Airport, killing scores of people. The acting US ambassador to Afghanistan said "there undoubtedly will be" some at-risk Afghans unable to leave the country.
Image: REUTERS
Exhausted from a harrowing escape
Many of those who managed to flee Afghanistan have reported mixed emotions, saying they feel lucky to have left safely but still despair over the fates of the thousands of people unable to escape from Taliban rule. This family was evacuated from Kabul and is headed to a US refugee processing center.
