Major Evacuation Flight Departs Kabul For Qatar With Over 350 People On Board - Reports

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2021) The ninth evacuation flight from Afghanistan since August 31 has carried more than 350 people out of the Afghan capital of Kabul, a senior Qatari government official told CNN.

The plane, one of the largest evacuation flights with 353 people on board, including faculty, staff, and students from the American University of Afghanistan, departed Kabul on Sunday and is on its way to Doha.

The exact number of Americans on board remains unclear. There are also citizens of Afghanistan, the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia on board, according to the Qatari government official.

The evacuees will remain in Doha, Qatar until their departure for final destinations.

US media reported earlier this month that the US intends to resume evacuation flights from Afghanistan by the end of this year. Until that happens, the US State Department will be organizing flights to Qatar.

After the Taliban (banned in Russia as a terrorist group) took over Kabul on August 15, hundreds of people rushed to the airport, which resulted in several days of chaos. As foreigners and Afghans who helped foreign forces were striving to leave, the airport was shaken by terrorist attacks organized by a local affiliate of the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia).

Since mid-August, Qatar has been facilitating the evacuation of people from Kabul to Doha. Most of the evacuees are headed for Qatar, where they are hosted temporarily before departing on flights to their onward destinations. According to the Qatari Foreign Ministry, some 114,000 people have left Afghanistan on evacuation flights, with over 58,000 of them via Qatar.