Amid mass exodus of foreign nationals, Pakistan halts all flights to Kabul

Spokesman Abdullah Hafeez said Pakistan International Airlines decided to protect passengers, the crew and the planes after consulting the Afghan civil aviation authorities.

Published: 16th August 2021 01:31 PM  |   Last Updated: 16th August 2021 01:31 PM   |  A+A A-

Afghans crowd at the airport as they wait to leave from Kabul on August 16, 2021.

Afghans crowd at the airport as they wait to leave from Kabul on August 16, 2021. (Photo | AFP)

By Associated Press

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s state-run airline says it has halted all flights to Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul because of the “uncertain security situation” there.

Spokesman Abdullah Hafeez said Monday, August 16, 2021, that Pakistan International Airlines decided to protect passengers, the crew and the planes after consulting the Afghan civil aviation authorities.

He spoke as embassies scrambled to evacuate personnel and Afghan employees through the airport. On Sunday, Taliban militants ended two decades of Western-backed government after a blitz through Afghanistan.

Videos on social media showed chaos at Kabul International Airport overnight, with the crack of occasional gunfire and hundreds of panicked Afghans running across the tarmac. By morning, advisories sent by civil aviation authorities announced the “civilian side” of the airport had been “closed until further notice.”

Early Monday morning, flight-tracking data showed no immediate commercial flights over the country.

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