First post-evacuation flight has taken off from Afghanistan, Qatar says

The first international commercial flight to leave Afghanistan since the withdrawal of U.S. troops departed Thursday, said the foreign minister of Qatar, which has helped open the airport in Kabul.

The airport "has been tested and operationalised in the past few days," Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said in Islamabad. "We managed to fly the first plane with passengers just an hour ago," he said, thanking the Taliban for helping reopen the airport.