Pakistan to Resume Commercial Flights to Kabul from Monday

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will resume flights from Islamabad to Kabul next week, a spokesman for the airline told AFP Saturday.

"We have got all technical clearances for flight operations. Our first commercial plane, (an) Airbus A320, is scheduled to fly from Islamabad to Kabul on September 13," said PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan.

This flight from Pakistan will be the first foreign commercial service since the Taliban seized power last month.

A commercial flight took off from Kabul airport last Thursday for the first time since US withdrawal in August. Sources said Taliban had cleared around 200 people, including American citizens, to fly out.

Live pictures showed people boarding the flight on Thursday afternoon Kabul time; Qatari and Taliban officials were seen touring the airport tarmac, where the Qatar Airways Boeing 777 stood.

Moreover, a US official told CNN that the Taliban’s agreement for the 200 or so people to leave on the charter flight Thursday came after US Special representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad had been pressing the Taliban to allow departures.