In Thursday’s joint news conference at the airport, Taliban and Qatari officials lauded the flight as a moment when Afghanistan reconnected with the international community. While that may be exaggerated – many world leaders are clearly very wary of the country’s new leaders – US officials on Thursday had words of praise for the militants that the US military has fought for two decades.
“The Taliban is cooperating with US citizens and lawful permanent residents departing from HKIA on charter flights,” National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horn said in a statement, citing Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. “They have shown resilience, and they have been professional and professional in our dealings with them in this endeavour. It’s a positive first step.”
The State Department confirmed that Americans were on the plane, which later landed in Qatar’s capital Doha, but did not say how many. A spokesman for Ned Price said more than 30 Americans were invited to the flight, but some did not.
On Thursday, as passengers were being checked-in at Kabul airport for a flight to Qatar, the mood of relief was in stark contrast to the scene there.
Safdie, 42, from Toronto, was among those who went through security to board the plane. He said he had tried to leave during the evacuation, but gave up due to the chaos on the streets outside the airport. at the end of August, suicide attack on airport gate Killed several Afghans and 13 American service members.