Qatar flight with more than 230 evacuees leaves Kabul, official says

DUBAI (Reuters) – A fifth chartered flight carrying civilians from Afghanistan to Qatar since U.S. forces withdrew in August left Kabul on Sunday with 235 passengers, most of them Afghan citizens, a senior Qatari government official said.

Citizens from several other states were also on the flight, the official said, without identifying them. The passengers will be housed in a compound in Qatar that is hosting evacuees from Afghanistan until departing to their final destinations.

“The State of Qatar will continue this work with international partners on efforts that ensure freedom of movement in Afghanistan, while also remaining focused on providing humanitarian aid to the country,” the official said.

Qatar has emerged has a key interlocutor between the West and the Taliban. The Gulf state is a close U.S. ally, hosting the largest American military base in the Middle East, and has hosted a Taliban political office since 2013.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; writing by Ghaida Ghantous; editing by Philippa Fletcher)