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Afghan Air Force Begins First Black Hawk Operational Mission
The Afghan Air Force (AAF) has conducted its first operational mission in Helmand province, using the newly delivered UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
According to a statement released by the Resolute Support (RS), the mission, which was in support of the Afghan provincial elections, took place just one day after the first 31 AAF members graduated from mission qualification training.
“The introduction of the UH-60 marks the dawning of a new age for the Afghan Air Force,” Brig. Gen. Phillip Stewart, head of Train, Advise and Assist Command-Air said. “Not only are these aircraft and students the physical embodiment of progress, but they also represent a generational shift from the older soviet-trained forces to the younger and more progressive western-trained and educated fleet.”
The AAF now has four qualified Black Hawk crews and 13 of these aircrafts.
According to Maj. Gen. Mohammad Shoaib, Afghan Air Force commander, the BlackHawks are ideal for Afghanistan because they are suitable for the terrain and weather, and they possess more modern technology.
The AAF will need crews for a planned 159 Black Hawks to be added to the air force and the special mission wing by 2021. It is expected that over 30 crews will be qualified by the spring of 2019.
“The Afghan Air Force has come a very long way in a very short time; this mission is further proof of the air crew’s hard work and dedication,” U.S. Air Force Col. Christopher Goodyear, 738th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group commander said.
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Turkish Airlines to resume flights to Afghanistan from Tuesday
Turkish Airlines will resume its flights to Afghanistan tomorrow (Tuesday), officials said on Monday.
The Ministry of Transport said that a Turkish Airlines plane will land in Kabul airport on Tuesday.
“Tomorrow, Turkish Airlines will resume its flights to Kabul International Airport. There will be four flights between Kabul and Istanbul per week. This is good news for Afghan travelers. For those Afghans who travel to European countries, they can move easily through Turkey,” said Imamuddin Ahmadi, the spokesman of the Ministry of Transport.
However, the Chamber of Commerce and Investment emphasized that visas should be provided to businessmen and citizens of the country, otherwise companies will benefit the most, not Afghan citizens and businessmen.
“Not a single passenger is allowed, the reason is that they do not issue visas. If the Turks don’t start issuing visas, or the Arabs don’t issue visas, the plane will come for the cargo and there will be little movement of people,” said Khanjan Alokozay, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment.
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Kabir tells UN official IEA will attend Doha meeting if its ‘position is accepted’
In a meeting with Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, the Deputy Prime Minister said the Islamic Emirate will participate in the third Doha meeting if its “position” is accepted.
He said that Afghanistan is under the complete control of the Islamic Emirate and that the country “has an Emir” and the government is “obeyed”.
According to a statement issued by Mawlavi Abdul Kabir’s office, the deputy prime minister told DiCarlo: “The previous meeting in Doha was incomplete due to some shortcomings of its organizers, and the position of the Islamic Emirate should be accepted in the next meeting so that the delegation of the Islamic Emirate will participate in it.”
The Secretary General of the United Nations once expressed regret for the Islamic Emirate’s non-participation in the Doha meeting, but at the same time said that accepting the demands of the Islamic Emirate is equivalent to its recognition.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate is asking the United Nations and other countries to recognize them as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
Kabir said that the Islamic Emirate has fulfilled all its obligations and “rules over the entire geography of Afghanistan… There is a central government in all of Afghanistan that has an emir and is obeyed.”
The United Nations is expected to hold the third Doha meeting with the participation of special representatives of countries for Afghanistan, but it has not set a date for it yet.
The Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs of the United Nations meanwhile visited Kabul this week and invited the Islamic Emirate’s officials to participate in the Doha meeting.
According to the deputy prime minister’s office, DiCarlo informed Kabir about the Doha meeting and said that “the Islamic Emirate’s conditions for participating in this meeting are not difficult.”
She expressed hope that a delegation of the Islamic Emirate will participate.
She said that representatives of a number of international organizations and countries have been invited to the Doha meeting, including the World Bank.
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UN’s DiCarlo meets with Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah over Doha meeting
Afghanistan’s former president Hamid Karzai, and the country’s former CEO Abdullah Abdullah met with Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs this weekend, regarding the third Doha meeting.
In a statement issued by Karzai’s office, it is stated that during the meeting they emphasized the need to help and support the people of Afghanistan and said that they considered education in Afghanistan essential.
They also emphasized the need for national understanding to achieve peace.
DiCarlo, who is on a trip to Kabul, has already met and discussed numerous issues with a number of officials of the Islamic Emirate.
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