Officials said Sunday that at least four evacuation planes could not leave the country for several days when conflicting reports emerged as to why flights could not take off amid growing pressure on the United States to help other people in Afghanistan who want to to leave the country, writes the Turkish English-language newspaper “Daily Sabah”.
An Afghan spokesman at an airport in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif said the potential passengers were Afghans, many of whom did not have passports or visas and therefore could not leave the country. He said they needed to leave the airport until the situation was resolved.
A leading Republican congressman on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said the group included Americans on planes, but the Taliban did not allow them to take off, effectively “taking them hostage.” Where did he get this information, he did not say that it can not be confirmed, according to FOCUS news agency.
The last days of America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan have been marked by a painful air evacuation from Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport of tens of thousands of Americans and their allies who feared the future, given the history of Taliban repression, especially of women.
At least 10 families were spotted at a local hotel awaiting a decision on their fate. None of them have passports or visas, but they said they worked for companies affiliated with the US military or Germany. The rest were spotted in restaurants.
The small airport in Mazar-i-Sharif has only recently started operating international flights and so far only to Turkey. The planes were to fly to Doha, Qatar, the Afghan envoy said. It is unclear who hired them and why they are waiting in the northern city.
The mass evacuation by air was carried out from Kabul International Airport, which was initially closed after the departure of the United States, but from where domestic flights have already resumed.