Live updates: Scores of Westerners, including Americans, fly out of Kabul
By KATHY GANNON, Associated Press
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Olivier Douliery/Pool Photo via AP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to members of the US embassy and Mission Afghanistan in the Qatari capital Doha, Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. Blinken says the State Department is working with the Taliban to facilitate additional charter flights from Kabul for people seeking to leave Afghanistan after the American military and diplomatic departure.
Olivier Douliery/Pool Photo via AP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to members of the US embassy and Mission Afghanistan in the Qatari capital Doha, Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. Blinken says the State Department is working with the Taliban to facilitate additional charter flights from Kabul for people seeking to leave Afghanistan after the American military and diplomatic departure.
FILE - In this Aug. 31, 2021 file photo, Taliban fighters stand guard inside the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the U.S. withdrawal in Kabul, Afghanistan. Taliban authorities will allow between 100 and 150 Americans to fly out from Kabul in the coming hours, Qatari officials said on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, marking the airport’s first such flight since U.S. forces withdrew from the country. The large group of foreigners, including Americans and other Westerners, would depart Thursday on a Qatar Airways flight that had earlier ferried humanitarian aid to the country, officials said. (AP Photo/Kathy Gannon, File)
Kathy Gannon
FILE - In this Aug. 31, 2021 file photo, Taliban fighters stand guard inside the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the U.S. withdrawal in Kabul, Afghanistan. Taliban authorities will allow between 100 and 150 Americans to fly out from Kabul in the coming hours, Qatari officials said on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, marking the airport’s first such flight since U.S. forces withdrew from the country. The large group of foreigners, including Americans and other Westerners, would depart Thursday on a Qatar Airways flight that had earlier ferried humanitarian aid to the country, officials said. (AP Photo/Kathy Gannon, File)
U.S. Army flight medic SGT Jaime Adame, top, cares for seriously wounded Marine CPL Andrew Smith following an insurgent attack on board a medevac helicopter Sunday, May 15, 2011, from the U.S. Army's Task Force Lift "Dust Off", Charlie Company 1-214 Aviation Regiment north of Sangin, in the volatile Helmand Province of southern Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
Kevin Frayer
U.S. Army flight medic SGT Jaime Adame, top, cares for seriously wounded Marine CPL Andrew Smith following an insurgent attack on board a medevac helicopter Sunday, May 15, 2011, from the U.S. Army's Task Force Lift "Dust Off", Charlie Company 1-214 Aviation Regiment north of Sangin, in the volatile Helmand Province of southern Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
A U.S. soldier of B company, 4th Infantry Regiment frisks an afghan man in his house during a search operation in Sinan village in Zabul province, southeastern Afghanistan, Monday, April 2, 2007. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Rafiq Maqbool
A U.S. soldier of B company, 4th Infantry Regiment frisks an afghan man in his house during a search operation in Sinan village in Zabul province, southeastern Afghanistan, Monday, April 2, 2007. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Local girls look at U.N. workers unloading ballot kits from a U.N. helicopter in Ghumaipayan Mahnow village, some 410 kilometers (256 miles) northeast of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 4, 2004. By air is the only way to deliver the electoral material in the inaccessible areas of the Badakhshan province. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Emilio Morenatti
Local girls look at U.N. workers unloading ballot kits from a U.N. helicopter in Ghumaipayan Mahnow village, some 410 kilometers (256 miles) northeast of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 4, 2004. By air is the only way to deliver the electoral material in the inaccessible areas of the Badakhshan province. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Pakistani bank notes covered in blood are displayed on the body of a dead suicide bomber after police found them in his pocket in the center of Kandahar, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 12, 2014, after an attack on the former Afghan intelligence headquarters. Police officials said three insurgents who tried to storm the former headquarters of Afghanistan's intelligence service in southern Kandahar died in a gunbattle with security forces. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Anja Niedringhaus
Pakistani bank notes covered in blood are displayed on the body of a dead suicide bomber after police found them in his pocket in the center of Kandahar, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 12, 2014, after an attack on the former Afghan intelligence headquarters. Police officials said three insurgents who tried to storm the former headquarters of Afghanistan's intelligence service in southern Kandahar died in a gunbattle with security forces. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Newly trained female officers from the Afghan National Army sit in front seats as a new batch of officers attend their graduation ceremony at National Army's training center in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
Gemunu Amarasinghe
Newly trained female officers from the Afghan National Army sit in front seats as a new batch of officers attend their graduation ceremony at National Army's training center in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
Afghan anti-al-Qaida fighters rest at a former al-Qaida base in the White Mountains near Tora Bora Wednesday Dec. 19, 2001, behind a string of ammunition found after the retreat of al-Qaida members from the area. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
David Guttenfelder
Afghan anti-al-Qaida fighters rest at a former al-Qaida base in the White Mountains near Tora Bora Wednesday Dec. 19, 2001, behind a string of ammunition found after the retreat of al-Qaida members from the area. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
Defecting Taliban fighters maneuver a tank through the front line near the village of Amirabad, between Kunduz and Taloqan, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2001. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Jerome Delay
Defecting Taliban fighters maneuver a tank through the front line near the village of Amirabad, between Kunduz and Taloqan, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2001. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
During a sporadic firefight, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. and flight medic Robert B. Cowdrey, of La Junta, Colo., top right, with Task Force Pegasus, coordinates a medical evacuation mission as Marine infantrymen carry onto a helicopter the second of two wounded Taliban fighters captured minutes earlier, according to witnesses, in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Brennan Linsley
During a sporadic firefight, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. and flight medic Robert B. Cowdrey, of La Junta, Colo., top right, with Task Force Pegasus, coordinates a medical evacuation mission as Marine infantrymen carry onto a helicopter the second of two wounded Taliban fighters captured minutes earlier, according to witnesses, in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
A U.S. Army soldier from Scout Platoon 502 Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, looks at the body of a suspected Taliban IED emplacer who was killed in a coalition missile strike in Zhari district, Kandahar province, Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010. The Scouts' mission was to support roadside bomb clearance efforts in the militant stronghold, the latest days-long phase of Operation Dragon Strike. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Rodrigo Abd
A U.S. Army soldier from Scout Platoon 502 Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, looks at the body of a suspected Taliban IED emplacer who was killed in a coalition missile strike in Zhari district, Kandahar province, Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010. The Scouts' mission was to support roadside bomb clearance efforts in the militant stronghold, the latest days-long phase of Operation Dragon Strike. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A woman poll worker waits for voters to arrive at a polling station in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Sept. 18, 2005. Afghanistan held landmark parliamentary elections, the first in three decades. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)
Saurabh Das
A woman poll worker waits for voters to arrive at a polling station in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Sept. 18, 2005. Afghanistan held landmark parliamentary elections, the first in three decades. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)
An Afghan woman waits in a changing room to try out a new Burqa, in a shop in the old city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, April 11, 2013. Before the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, the Burqa was infrequently worn in cities. While they were in power, the Taliban required the wearing of a Burqa in public. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Anja Niedringhaus
An Afghan woman waits in a changing room to try out a new Burqa, in a shop in the old city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, April 11, 2013. Before the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, the Burqa was infrequently worn in cities. While they were in power, the Taliban required the wearing of a Burqa in public. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Basera, 13, right, and Saira, 10, wait for their class to begin at Loy Ghar school, in the bombed-out carcass of the Kabul Theater in Afghanistan's capital, April 20, 2005. The bullet-riddled building has become a place of hope for more than 400 students looking to rebuild their lives after decades of war. Classrooms have sprung up near windows or where bombs have destroyed enough of the wall to allow in sunlight. (AP Photo/Tomas Munita)
TOMAS MUNITA
Basera, 13, right, and Saira, 10, wait for their class to begin at Loy Ghar school, in the bombed-out carcass of the Kabul Theater in Afghanistan's capital, April 20, 2005. The bullet-riddled building has become a place of hope for more than 400 students looking to rebuild their lives after decades of war. Classrooms have sprung up near windows or where bombs have destroyed enough of the wall to allow in sunlight. (AP Photo/Tomas Munita)
An Afghan police officer gestures to German ISAF soldiers in Yaftal e Sofla, in the mountainous region of Feyzabad, east of Kunduz, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Anja Niedringhaus
An Afghan police officer gestures to German ISAF soldiers in Yaftal e Sofla, in the mountainous region of Feyzabad, east of Kunduz, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Airborne in a U.S. Army Task Force Pegasus helicopter, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. and flight medic Robert B. Cowdrey, of La Junta, Colo., gives medical care to an Afghan National Army soldier with a gunshot wound, during a medevac mission over Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Brennan Linsley
Airborne in a U.S. Army Task Force Pegasus helicopter, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. and flight medic Robert B. Cowdrey, of La Junta, Colo., gives medical care to an Afghan National Army soldier with a gunshot wound, during a medevac mission over Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
An Afghan barber works on a customer in his shop as a portrait of Afghanistan national hero Ahmad Shah Massoud adorns its door in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Altaf Qadri
An Afghan barber works on a customer in his shop as a portrait of Afghanistan national hero Ahmad Shah Massoud adorns its door in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Afghan policemen simulate weapons orientation during a training session with U.S. soldiers from 2nd PLT Diablos 552nd Military Police Company, on the outskirts of Kandahar City, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Rodrigo Abd
Afghan policemen simulate weapons orientation during a training session with U.S. soldiers from 2nd PLT Diablos 552nd Military Police Company, on the outskirts of Kandahar City, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
An Afghan police officer carries an injured unidentified German national as smoke bellows from the site of an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009. Gunmen attacked a guest house used by U.N. staff in the Afghan capital of Kabul. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
Gemunu Amarasinghe
An Afghan police officer carries an injured unidentified German national as smoke bellows from the site of an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009. Gunmen attacked a guest house used by U.N. staff in the Afghan capital of Kabul. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
An Afghan soldier, left, and a police man peek through a window as they queue with others to get their registration card on the last day of voter registration for the upcoming presidential elections outside a school in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Anja Niedringhaus
An Afghan soldier, left, and a police man peek through a window as they queue with others to get their registration card on the last day of voter registration for the upcoming presidential elections outside a school in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Some 200 foreigners, including Americans, flew out of Afghanistan on an international commercial flight from Kabul airport on Thursday, the first such large-scale departure since U.S and foreign forces concluded their frantic withdrawal at the end of last month.
The Qatar Airways flight to Doha marked a significant breakthrough in the bumpy coordination between the U.S. and Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers. A dayslong stand-off over charter planes at another airport had left dozens of passengers stranded and cast doubt on Taliban assurances to allow foreigners and Afghans with proper travel documents to leave the country.
A senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief the media, provided the number of Westerners on board and said that two very senior Taliban officials had helped facilitate the departure. Americans, green card holders and other nationalities including Germans, Hungarians and Canadians were on the flight, the official said.
As Taliban authorities patrolled the tarmac, passengers presented their documents for checking, and sniffer dogs inspected luggage laid out on the ground. Some of the veteran airport workers had returned to their jobs after fleeing during the harrowing chaos of the U.S.-led airlift.
Irfan Popalzai, 12, among those boarding the flight with his mother and five brothers and sisters, said his family lives in Maryland.
“I am an Afghan, but you know I am from America and I am so excited (to leave),” he said.
As the group prepared to board earlier, Qatari officials gathered on the tarmac of Kabul airport to announce the airport was ready for the resumption of international commercial flights after days of repairs. Extensive damage to the travel hub in the frenzied final days of the U.S. airlift that evacuated over 100,000 people from the country had raised questions over how soon the transport hub could resume for regular commercial flights. Technical experts from Qatar and Turkey have been racing to restore operations.
“I can clearly say that this is a historic day in the history of Afghanistan as Kabul airport is now operational,” said Qatari special envoy Mutlaq bin Majed al-Qahtani.
“Call it what you want, a charter or a commercial flight, everyone has tickets and boarding passes,” al-Qahtani added, noting that another commercial flight would take off on Friday. “Hopefully, life is becoming normal in Afghanistan.”
The flight represents the first to depart from Kabul airport since American forces left the country at the end of August, their departure accompanied by a frantic airlift of tens of thousands of foreign citizens and Afghans fleeing the Taliban. The scenes of chaos, including Afghans plunging to their deaths after clinging to military aircraft that was taking off and a suicide bombing that killed 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, came to define the fraught end to America’s two-decade war.
A foreign diplomat, likewise speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief the media, said another 200 foreigners, including Americans, would depart in the next couple of days.
It remains uncertain what the resumption of international flights over the next few days will mean for the tens of thousands of Afghans desperate to flee Afghanistan’s new Taliban leaders over fears of what their rule will hold.
Hundreds of other Afghans at risk after the Taliban takeover because of their past work with Americans have gathered for more than a week in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, waiting for permission to board privately chartered evacuation flights out of the country.
Although the Taliban assured the world they would let passengers with valid travel documents leave the country, many of those stranded at the northern airport did not have such papers.
