PIA temporarily suspends Kabul flight operation after '2000 evacuations'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has suspended its flight operations for Kabul temporarily after the country’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that they had so far evacuated around 2000 people, ARY NEWS reported on Saturday.

According to sources privy to the development, the national flag carrier is now planning for flights scheduled on Sunday for the Afghan capital in order to evacuate Pakistanis and foreign travelers.

“As soon as the permission is received, a special flight will depart for Kabul to airlift passengers stranded in the Afghan capital,” they said.

Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that Pakistan has evacuated around 2,000 people from Kabul including journalists, members of the international bodies, and various embassies.

Sharing the details in a video on his Twitter handle, Fawad Chaudhry said that the Pakistan embassy in Kabul is playing a pivotal role in evacuations from the Afghan capital in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover.

The @PakinAfg is playing a pivotal role in evacuation process as 4,000 visas have been issued and about 2,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul. The @Official_PIA assisted over 1,400 people including journalists, IMF, World Bank & staff of various embassies” @fawadchaudhry pic.twitter.com/0i2WrcYUCX

— Fawad Chaudhry (Updates) (@FawadPTIUpdates) August 21, 2021

He said that so far 4000 people have been issued visas and around 2000 of them have been evacuated from Kabul.

Read More: PIA AIRLIFTS MORE PASSENGERS INCLUDING FOREIGNERS FROM KABUL

The information minister added that the PIA assisted over 1,400 people including journalists, IMF, World Bank, and staff of various embassies during the evacuation process.