Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced that it has decided to resume commercial flights to Kabul starting from Monday onwards, the first since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Pakistan becomes the first foreign country to start flight operations since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last month.

“The official flag carrier of Pakistan is going to start again its flight operations for Kabul,” Arshad Malik, CEO of the PIA, told Xinhua news agency on Saturday.

Malik added that the first flight will leave for the Afghan capital on Monday from Islamabad. The PIA official said that permission to land at the Kabul airport has been granted by Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority.

Meanwhile, PIA’s Spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan said that Pakistan has got all the technical clearance for flight operations, and an Airbus A320 jet is scheduled to take passengers from Islamabad to Kabul.

Following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban last month, the PIA had temporarily suspended its operations to the Afghan capital city.

The Taliban welcomed the resumption of flights from Pakistan. “We welcome and appreciate this move from Pakistan and urge the international community to help rebuild Afghanistan,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

Kabul airport has yet to receive its first international flight since the Taliban came to power.

The Taliban have sought Qatari technical assistance to resume airport operations at Hamid Karzai airport, which was badly damaged during the hasty evacuation of more than 120,000 people when the American troops withdrew on 30 August. Qatari officials said the Kabul airport was 90% ready for operations.

Pakistan has donated food and medicine to Afghanistan, with a Pakistan Air Force C-130 carrying relief goods and medicines.

Analysts welcomed the development. “Resumption of PIA flights is a good move for connectivity with landlocked Afghanistan and the move reflects [that] life is getting back to normal and services are being provided to the Afghans and the international community should come forward to help Afghanistan,” Talat Masood, a retired general, said.

For the past two days, Qatar Airways has operated two chartered flights from Kabul to Doha carrying foreigners and local Afghans who were missed during the American evacuation. Domestic flights by an Afghan airline resumed last week.