Kabul airport reopens to receive aid, civilian flights to operate soon

Reuters, AFP | Dubai

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Qatar’s ambassador to Afghanistan said a technical team was able to reopen Kabul airport to receive aid and that it would be prepared for civilian flights soon, Al Jazeera reported on Saturday.

The runway at Kabul airport has been repaired in cooperation with authorities in Afghanistan, the ambassador said, according to reports. Two domestic flights were operated from Kabul to the cities of Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar.

Fighting in Panjshir

Meanwhile, fresh fighting was reported Saturday between the Taliban and resistance forces in the Panjshir Valley, even as the hardline group finalise a new government that will set the tone for their rule.

Facing the challenge of morphing from insurgents to rulers, the Taliban appear determined to snuff out the Panjshir resistance before announcing who will lead the country in the aftermath of Monday's US troop withdrawal.

But Panjshir is stubbornly holding out.

Fighters from the so-called National Resistance Front (NRF) are understood to have stockpiled a significant armoury in the valley, around 80 kilometres north of Kabul and guarded by a narrow gorge.