PESHAWAR: After taking control of Afghanistan and announcing their interim cabinet, the Taliban have renamed the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
The Kabul airport was named after former President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai by the Ashraf Ghani administration in 2014 on the recommendation of the Mashrano Jirga [upper house of parliament] to pay tribute to Karzai’s for services and contributions to Afghanistan’s rebuilding, calling him a “patriot and wise politician”.
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Though the Talban have not made any official announcement in this regard, however, Tv footage shows that the group has removed Karzai’s name from the airport and renamed it as Kabul International Airport. Sources said Taliban have also removed portraits of late anti-Taliban Afghan fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud from various locations of Afghanistan.
After the Taliban took complete control of Afghanistan, there was chaos at Kabul airport as thousands of foreigners and Afghans fled Afghanistan before the US withdrawal on August 31 through this airport. After the US withdrawal, air operations at Kabul Airport were suspended, but the airport system was reactivated by technical teams from Qatar and Turkey.
Meanwhile, Deborah Lines, the United National special envoy to Afghanistan, told the Security Council that although the Taliban had issued statements of general amnesty for Afghan National Defense Forces and civilian government officials, there were still credible reports that several former Afghan security forces have killed by the group.
Deborah Lions, speaking at a Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, also expressed concern about what she called the Taliban’s increasing harassment of Afghan UN staff. But Ms Lions called on the international community to continue sending humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, despite concerns about the new Taliban government to avoid humanitarian crises. She stressed that there is a need for more food and medicines.