First commercial flight lands in Afghanistan since Taliban takeover

Kabul : A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane touched down Afghanistan with a handful of passengers, becoming a first commercial flight to land since Taliban took over the nation on August 15.

"There was hardly anyone on the plane, around 10 people... maybe more staff than passengers," said an AFP journalist aboard the flight from Islamabad.

A PIA spokesperson said that the nation is keen on starting the regular flight operations like before but they are not sure by when the seamless operations will begin.

The Kabul airport was severely damaged during the evacuation drive carried by the US and other countries till August 31. The Taliban have been scrambling to get it operating again with technical assistance from Qatar and other nations.

Qatar Airways operated several charter flights out of Kabul last week, carrying mostly foreigners and Afghans who missed out on the evacuation.

The domestic flight services by Afghan airlines has been resumed on September 3.