Qatar Says Efforts Underway to Reopen Airport in Kabul

Qatar’s foreign minister said Thursday that efforts are underway to reopen the airport in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, but cautioned it was unclear when flights would resume.

Ariana Afghan Airlines told the Agence France-Presse that its domestic flights were set to resume Friday.   A group of technicians from Qatar and Turkey had flown to Kabul on Wednesday to help reopen the airport, which is a vital link to those still seeking to flee the war-torn country and to providing humanitarian aid. It was the first foreign aircraft to land at the airport since it closed the day before for unspecified reasons. Ross Wilson, the chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, is reported to have contracted the coronavirus. He was the last U.S. diplomat to leave Kabul. Wilson worked out of Kabul’s airport, to help people through the process of exiting the country after the U.S. embassy closed. Wilson’s condition since the COVID-19 diagnosis was not immediately clear.