About 200 Westerners, including Americans, fly out of Kabul

By KATHY GANNON

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An estimated 200 foreigners, including Americans, near Afghanistan connected a commercialized formation retired of Kabul connected Thursday, the archetypal specified large-scale departure since U.S. and NATO forces completed their frantic withdrawal implicit a week ago.

The Qatar Airways formation to Doha marked a breakthrough successful the bumpy coordination betwixt the U.S. and Afghanistan’s caller Taliban rulers. A dayslong standoff implicit charter planes astatine different airdrome has near hundreds of radical — mostly Afghans — stranded, waiting for Taliban support to board.

A elder U.S. official, speaking connected information of anonymity due to the fact that helium wasn’t authorized to speech to the media, provided the fig of Westerners connected the Qatar formation and said 2 high-ranking Taliban officials helped put the departure — the overseas curate and lawman premier minister.

Americans, U.S. greenish paper holders and different nationalities, including Germans, Hungarians and Canadians, were aboard, the authoritative said.

Qatari envoy Mutlaq bin Majed al-Qahtani said different 200 passengers volition permission Afghanistan connected Friday.

It was not instantly wide however galore Americans were connected committee Thursday and however galore were inactive successful Afghanistan.

The White House said earlier the formation that determination were astir 100 American citizens near successful Afghanistan. But respective veterans groups person said that that fig is excessively debased due to the fact that galore citizens ne'er bothered to archer U.S. officials they were successful the country. And they said it overlooks green-card-carrying imperishable U.S. residents surviving successful Afghanistan who privation out.

Many thousands of Afghans stay hopeless to get out, too, acrophobic of what Taliban regularisation mightiness hold. The Taliban person repeatedly said foreigners and Afghans with due question documents could leave. But their assurances person been conscionable with skepticism.

U.S. lawmakers, veterans groups and others are pressing the Biden medication to guarantee that erstwhile Afghan subject interpreters and others who could beryllium successful information of Taliban reprisals for moving with the Americans are allowed to leave.

In the U.S., National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said that Thursday’s formation was the effect of “careful and hard diplomacy and engagement” and that the Taliban “have shown flexibility, and they person been businesslike and nonrecreational successful our dealings with them successful this effort.”

“This is simply a affirmative archetypal step,” she said, adding that the U.S. volition proceed trying to extract American citizens, imperishable residents and Afghans who worked for the United States and privation to leave.

As Taliban authorities patrolled the tarmac, passengers presented their documents for inspection and dogs sniffed luggage laid retired connected the ground. Some seasoned airdrome employees had returned to their jobs aft fleeing during the harrowing chaos of the U.S.-led airlift.

Irfan Popalzai, 12, boarded the formation with his parent and 5 brothers and sisters. He said his household lives successful Maryland.

“I americium an Afghan, but you cognize I americium from America and I americium truthful excited” to leave, helium said.

Before the airliner took off, Qatari officials gathered connected the tarmac to denote the airdrome was acceptable for the resumption of planetary commercialized flights aft days of repairs.

Extensive harm successful the frenzied last days of the U.S. airlift that evacuated implicit 100,000 radical had raised questions astir however soon regular commercialized work could resume. Experts from Qatar and Turkey person been racing to reconstruct operations.

“I tin intelligibly accidental that this is simply a historical time successful the past of Afghanistan arsenic Kabul airdrome is present operational,” al-Qahtani said.

“Call it what you want, a charter oregon a commercialized flight, everyone has tickets and boarding passes,” helium added. “Hopefully, beingness is becoming mean successful Afghanistan.”

The formation was the archetypal to instrumentality disconnected from the Kabul airdrome since American forces near the state astatine the extremity of August. The accompanying scenes of chaos, including Afghans plunging to their deaths from the sides of subject craft connected takeoff and a termination bombing that killed 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. work members, came to specify the extremity of America’s two-decade war.

The airdrome is nary longer the Hamid Karzai International Airport, but simply Kabul International Airport, with the sanction of the country’s erstwhile president removed. Several Taliban flags flew from the terminal, which was emblazoned “The Islamic Emirate seeks peaceful and affirmative relations with the world.”

Hundreds of different Afghans who accidental they are astatine hazard for helping the Americans person gathered for much than a week successful the bluish metropolis of Mazar-e-Sharif, waiting for support to committee evacuation flights chartered by U.S. supporters. Many are believed not to person the indispensable question documents.

In Mazar-e-Sharif connected Thursday, an Afghan who worked 15 years arsenic an interpreter for the U.S. subject was moving from edifice to edifice and moving retired of wealth arsenic he, his 8 children and his woman waited for the OK from the Taliban to leave.

“I’m frightened I volition beryllium near behind,” said the man, whose sanction was withheld by The Associated Press for his safety.

The interpreter said helium was 1 of galore erstwhile U.S. employees whose peculiar visas the United States approved successful the past weeks of the American subject beingness successful Afghanistan. But with the U.S. Embassy closed erstwhile the Taliban took Kabul connected Aug. 15, it has go intolerable to get the visa stamped into his passport.

He said helium doesn’t spot Taliban assurances that they volition not instrumentality revenge against Afghans who worked for the Americans.

“No, never,” helium said. “I ne'er judge them, due to the fact that they are lying.”

Afghanistan warfare seasoned Matt Zeller, who founded the enactment No One Left Behind to assistance Afghan translators and others who supported American troops, said helium does not judge it is imaginable for applicants to the peculiar migrant visa programme to get a visa without an embassy successful Kabul.

“For each intents and purposes, these people’s chances of escaping the Taliban ended the time we near them behind,” helium said.

The enactment War Time Allies estimates that arsenic galore arsenic 20,000 peculiar visa applicants stay successful the country, not counting those eligible nether a much wide regularisation alteration made successful July. Add their families to that and the full amounts to much than 80,000 people, according to the group.

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Associated Press writers Ellen Knickmeyer successful Oklahoma City and Julie Watson successful San Diego contributed to this report.