U.S. State Department highlights security requirements necessary for airport operations.
None of Afghanistan’s airports are currently open. Afghanistan’s neighbors have closed their borders to people trying to flee the Taliban. It is estimated that there are tens of thousands of people who are eligible to resettle in the U.S. and other countries, but who were not able to enter the airport in Kabul in the final hours before the evacuation airlifts ended.
Qatar has begun efforts to restore flight operations in Kabul in hopes of aiding some at-risk Afghans to be able to leave. At least one person died (another report says four) after what reports are calling a stampede happened at a key Afghanistan-Pakistan border crossing Thursday. The rush of people occurred after Pakistan closed its border crossing, the second-largest commercial border point with Afghanistan. Pakistan’s interior minister could not say how long the border will be closed but it will before “some days due to security threats.” He provided no details.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Thursday, “In order for commercial airliners and commercial entities, certainly, to fly into an airport like Kabul, they will want a level of assurance that their operations will be safe and secure. And this is something that, from their public statements, it seems the Turks and the Qataris are working on.” He continued, “We know that this issue of security is fundamental to the ability to have a commercial airport that is operational, that is functioning, that is capable of receiving humanitarian provisions, and capable of being a source of departure.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For State Department officials as they interact with allies in the Middle East.
- For the tens of thousands of Afghan allies and the hundreds of Americans who remain in Afghanistan.
- For the president and his advisors to seek God’s wisdom regarding efforts to evacuate U.S. citizens who are trapped in that nation.
Sources: Wall Street Journal, CNN, Hindustan Times
