Who would run Kabul airport?

 Who would run Kabul airport?

Dr. Jassim Taqui

DG Al-Bab Institute for Strategic Studies

Islamabad, August 29, 2021: The issue of who would run the Kabul airport continues to be debated. There was a hope that Turkey would do the job in line with the NATO decision that formed a tripartite committee consisting of Turkey, Hungry, and Pakistan to run the airport. According to the decision, 1500 troops would guard the airport and major roads leading to it(500 from every three countries). However, the Taliban(T) rejected the NATO committee and insisted that all troops should be withdrawn by 31^st August.

Recently, the Taliban appointed a mister of finance and a minister of intelligence but left the portfolio of civil aviation vacant. The T was hoping to find some technical hand from the erstwhile regime to run the airport. However, no one wanted to do the job.

The latest reports suggest that the  T had asked Turkey for technical help to run Kabul airport after the departure of foreign forces but insisted that Ankara’s military also withdraw fully by the end-August.

Ostensibly, this T’s condition leaves Ankara with a difficult decision over whether to accept a dangerous job.

The moral of this story is that the T is very rigid and nobody is ready to cooperate with a government of this attitude.