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Afghan police return to posts at Kabul airport first time since Taliban seized power

Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 12 Sep 2021, 05:23 am Print

Afghan police return to posts at Kabul airport first time since Taliban seized power Afghan Police

An image of Kabul airport this August. Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons/US Air Force

Kabul/JEN: For the first time since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, the country's police personnel have returned to man the checkpoints at Kabul international airport alongside the Talib fighters, AFP reported on Sunday quoting local officials.

Afghan police abandoned their posts after the Taliban had swept into Kabul on Aug 15, ousting the Ashraf Ghani government.

AFP reported citing two local officers that policemen had joined back their duties on Saturday after receiving calls from Taliban commanders.

Local reporters said that Afghan border police members had been seen performing their duties alongside Taliban fighters at several posts and checkpoints outside the main buildings of Kabul airport, including the domestic terminal, on Sunday.

Days after seizing power in Afghanistan, Taliban leaders said they had granted a general amnesty to everyone, including the members of army, police and other security branches, who had worked for the former government.

Kabul airport, which witnessed a deadly terror attack last month and was badly damaged during the super-chaotic US withdrawal, is being restored slowly to an operational condition with the help of Qatari tech experts.

Qatar Airways has already operated charter flights out of Kabul in recent days to evacuate mostly foreigners from Afghanistan while a local airline resumed domestic operations last week and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is expecting to resume flight operations between Islamabad and Kabul in coming days, according to a report by the AFP.