Americans Among 200 People on Evacuation Flight From Kabul
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Roughly 200 people, including dozens of Americans, departed the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on a Qatar Airways flight Thursday. It's the first evacuation flight of U.S. citizens from the country since the last U.S. troops left at the end of August. More evacuation flights with similar numbers of Americans may depart in the coming days; the exact number of Americans on Thursday's flight is unclear. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the Taliban had been preventing private charter flights from leaving Kabul due to purported issues with passengers' documentation. Qatari officials have reportedly been working with the Taliban to help restore normal operations at Kabul's airport.
The planned departure made headlines across the spectrum. Some left- and center-rated sources focused on the passengers and their nationalities more generally; some right-rated sources placed more emphasis on the Americans who were making the flight.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Flight takes off from Kabul airport after Taliban cleared Americans and others to leave
A commercial flight took off from Kabul airport on Thursday for the first time since the Taliban seized Afghanistan, hours after the militants cleared a group of Americans and other foreign nationals to leave the country.
It is unclear at this stage whether or how many Americans were on board the Qatar Airways flight, reported earlier to be bound for Doha, or the nationalities of the other passengers.
A US official and a source with knowledge of the matter had earlier said the Taliban had cleared around 200 people, including...
From the Left
Scores of Westerners, including Americans, fly out of Kabul 
Some 200 foreigners, including Americans, left Afghanistan on a commercial flight out of Kabul on Thursday, the first such large-scale departure since U.S. and other forces completed their frantic withdrawal over a week ago.
The Qatar Airways flight to Doha marked a breakthrough in the bumpy coordination between the U.S. and Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers. A dayslong standoff over charter planes at another airport has left dozens of passengers stranded.
A senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to the media, provided...
From the Right
150 Americans to board Qatar commercial flight out of Kabul: officials
About 200 Americans and other western foreigners are expected to be flown out of Kabul airport later Thursday on a Qatar Airways flight that delivered humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, US and Qatari officials said.
The flight would mark the first large evacuation flight of US citizens from Afghanistan since the last troops left the Taliban-run country just over a week ago.
The group of evacuees includes an undisclosed number of other western foreigners, two officials told the Associated Press.
The flight is expected to land in Doha later in the...
AllSides Picks
May 1st, 2024
April 30th, 2024
April 29th, 2024
More News about Middle East from the Left, Center and Right
From the Left
From the Center
From the Right
