Kabul: Outbound commercial flights cancelled due to chaos at airport, Czech evacuation begins

KABUL: Commercial flights from Kabul were cancelled Monday after chaotic scenes at the airport with thousands looking for a way out after the Taliban re-took power in Afghanistan. 

"There will be no commercial flights from Hamid Karzai Airport to prevent looting and plundering. Please do not rush to the airport," the Kabul airport authority said in a message sent to reporters.

Meanwhile, the first Czech evacuation flight has taken off from Kabul’s international airport and landed in Prague.

Prime Minister Andrej Babis said 46 people were on board Monday’s flight.

They included Czech nationals, the Afghan staffers at the Czech embassy and Afghan interpreters who helped the Czech armed forces during NATO missions together with their families.

Babis didn’t immediately provide more details. It’s not clear how many such flights will follow.

Czech Interior Minister Jan Hamacek tweeted that given the deteriorating situation at Kabul’s airport, it was “a miracle” that the Czech flight managed to take off.

Local media reported that thousands of people were gathered at the Kabul airport to leave the country.

In an earlier joint statement, the U.S. Pentagon and State Department said the American military would take over air-traffic control at the airport.

Thousands of Afghans, fearing a return to the Taliban's brutal rule, are trying to flee the country through Hamid Karzai International Airport. Videos circulating on social media showed hundreds of people racing across the tarmac as U.S. soldiers fired warning shots in the air.

The Taliban swept into the capital on Sunday, August 15, 2021, after the Western-backed government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, bringing a stunning end to a two-decade campaign in which the U.S. and its allies had tried to transform the country.

(With inputs from agencies)