First foreign commercial flight after Taliban takeover lands in Kabul

Kabul

An international commercial flight touched down in theAfghan capital on Monday, the first since the Taliban retook power last month.

Kabul airport was left trashed after foreign forcescompleted their chaotic withdrawal on August 30, evacuating more than 120,000people from the country.

The Taliban have since been scrambling to get it operatingagain with technical assistance from Qatar and other nations.

"There was hardly anyone on the plane, around 10people... maybe more staff than passengers," said a journalist aboard thePakistan International Airways (PIA) flight from Islamabad.

The resumption of commercial flights will be a key test forthe hardline Islamist group, who have repeatedly promised to allow Afghans withthe right documents to leave the country freely.

Many NATO nations admitted that they had run out of time toevacuate thousands of at-risk Afghans before the withdrawal deadline -- agreedbetween the United States and the Taliban.

A PIA spokesman said at the weekend that the airline waskeen to resume regular commercial services, but it was too soon to say howfrequently flights between the two capitals would operate.

Qatar Airways operated several charter flights out of Kabullast week, carrying mostly foreigners and Afghans who missed out on theevacuation.

An Afghan airline resumed domestic services on September 3. "Thisis a big moment. We are very excited," said one airport employee, dressedin a blue shalwar kameez and orange high-visibility vest.

"It's a hopeful day. Maybe other airlines will see thisand decide to come back."

A bus painted with a "Welcome to Afghanistan" waswaiting to ferry the passengers from the plane to the terminal, but in the endthe new arrivals walked.

Around 100 passengers were waiting to catch the returnflight to Islamabad -- mostly relatives of staffers with internationalorganisations such as the World Bank, according to airport ground staff.

Passenger halls, airbridges and technical infrastructurewere badly damaged in the days after the Taliban rolled into Kabul on August15.

Tens of thousands of Afghans fear reprisals for helpingforeign powers during the 20-year US-led occupation, but the Taliban insistthey have granted a general amnesty to everyone -- including the securityforces they fought against.