Albania gets 1st Afghan evacuees after deadly Kabul blasts

Albania is housing its first group of Afghan evacuees who made it out of their country despite days of chaos near the Kabul airport, including an attack claimed by the Islamic State group

TIRANA, Abania -- Albania on Friday housed its first group of Afghan evacuees who made it out of their country despite days of chaos near the Kabul airport, including an attack claimed by the Islamic State group. A government statement said an Egyptian Almasria Universal Airlines plane landed at the Tirana international airport at 3:20 a.m. (01:20 GMT) carrying 121 people, including 11 children. It was not clear whether this was the first flight after the two suicide bombings in Kabul that killed at least 60 Afghans and 13 American troops, or if the plane that landed in Albania's capital had come directly from Afghanistan. “It was the fear from such attacks which pushed us our utmost that these citizens come soonest to Albania, where they are away from danger and fear for their lives,” Albanian Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka said. She and U.S. Ambassador Yuri Kim were at the airport to greet the evacuees. .After the plane landed in Tirana, the passengers were supplied with facemasks and had their information processed in a military tent before they were taken on buses to hotels in the nearby western port city of Durres. The Albanian government will supply them with food, transportation, security and other necessities, according to the foreign minister.