world
September 11, 2021 – 20:41

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) spokesman said the airline plans to resume flights from Kabul next week in order to help evacuate people who want to leave Afghanistan.

PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan told the AFP news agency that the company had accepted “all technical permits for flight operations” to resume.

He said that the first PIA special flight from Kabul will be realized through the Airbus A320 aircraft that will fly from Islamabad on September 13th.

However, the PIA said it was still unclear when regular commercial services from Kabul would resume.

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and international troops withdrew from the country, few flights have been operated from Kabul.

Khan also told the DPA that these special flights should not be seen as “regular operations” but as “commissioned services”.

He said the PIA had been contacted by foreign missions and agencies – including the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank – as well as media and humanitarian organizations, which are trying to evacuate people from Kabul.

The PIA is one of the few services to have operated immediately after the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15th. Officials of this airline have said that at least 1,460 of different nationalities were evacuated with the planes of this airline in the period 15-22 August.

But on August 22, the PIA announced that it had “temporarily suspended” flights between Kabul and Islamabad due to a lack of facilities and “garbage piled up” on the runway.

Pakistani media have quoted authorities in Islamabad as saying they are concerned that the rubbish dumped at Kabul airport could lead to some tragic accident.

A Qatar Airways flight also took place on September 9 with 200 people on board. This was the first flight from Kabul airport since the Taliban took control of the airport after the last US troops left on August 31. / rel

world
April 22, 2021 – 09:22

At least five people have been killed and 12 others injured in a bomb blast in the parking lot of a luxury hotel in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta. Some of the injured are in critical condition.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) group, known as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted officials.

Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told AFP the attack was “an act of terrorism”.

A Chinese delegation of about four people led by the ambassador was staying at the hotel.

“The ambassador was out for a meeting when the explosion happened,” he added.

Chinese officials did not immediately comment on the incident.

Quetta is the capital of Balochistan Province, which is rich in natural resources. The province borders Afghanistan and Iran.

The region has been ravaged by sectarian violence, attacks by Islamic militants and a separatist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives since 2004.

Dissatisfaction there has grown as Chinese investment under the $ 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project did not offer them many benefits.

In June, insurgents targeted the Pakistan Stock Exchange, which is partly owned by Chinese companies. The attack was taken over by the Balochistan Liberation Army./REL