Taliban interim government agrees to let foreigners leave Afghanistan
SMA NEWS – KABUL
Two hundred foreigners in Afghanistan, Americans among them, are set to depart on charter flights from Kabul on Thursday after the new Taliban government agreed to their evacuation, a U.S. official said.
The departures will be among the first international flights to take off from Kabul airport since the Islamist militia seized the capital in mid-August, triggering the chaotic U.S.-led evacuation of 124,000 foreigners and at-risk Afghans.
The flights come two days after the Taliban announced an interim government made up of mainly ethnic Pashtun men, including Islamist hardliners and some wanted by the United States on terrorism charges, dashing international hopes for a more moderate administration.
The Taliban were pressed to allow the departures by U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. official said, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
A Qatari official, speaking on the Kabul airport tarmac on Thursday, said it was about 90% ready for operations but would reopen gradually.
Qatari special envoy Mutlaq bin Majed Al Qahtani described a flight out of Kabul on Thursday as a regular flight and not an evacuation. There would also be a flight on Friday, he said.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that as of Wednesday about 100 U.S. citizens were still in Afghanistan but that not all necessarily wanted to leave now. Some may have family in the country or other reasons for not departing yet, she said.
