Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Thursday announced that it was suspending flight operations in Kabul, Afghanistan over security reasons. The national carrier’s spokesperson Abdullah Khan confirmed the development saying that airline operations in Kabul will remain suspended until further notice.
The spokesperson emphasized that PIA had kept flying in and out of Kabul under difficult circumstances when all other airlines had ceased their operations. The national carrier had played an important role in the mass evacuation following Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in August, which created chaos in the country as several foreigners and locals tried to get out of the country.
“The PIA evacuated around 3,000 people after the rapidly changing situation in Afghanistan,” said the PIA spokesperson. He added that people who were evacuated were officials of the United Nations, World Bank, the IMF, and other global organization as well as international journalists.
The spokesperson said that PTA captains and staff endangered their lives but kept the evacuation process going.
Meanwhile, Journalist Anas Mallick, who is currently in Afghanistan, said that Taliban were reportedly holding the country manager at gunpoint on charges of abetting people to leave their country.
PIA suspends its operations for Kabul with immediate effect following Taliban reportedly holding the country manager at Gunpoint on charges of "abetting people to leave their country", on Monday the TB Ministry of Aviation without prior notice slashed the manifest by 50%.
— Anas Mallick (@AnasMallick) October 14, 2021
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