IEA delegation in Qatar to discuss airport management contracts

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) Ministry of Transport and Aviation says a high-level delegation has arrived in Qatar to discuss contracts to manage five airports in Afghanistan.

The ministry said late Friday that the delegation was being led by Transport and Aviation Minister Hamidullah Akhondzada and includes a number of other officials, including acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the delegation will meet with Qatari officials to discuss technical aspects of the contracts for five Afghan airports, which are Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Balkh and Khost.

Representatives of Turkish technical teams are also expected to attend the meeting.

On April 7, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy prime minister of the IEA government, asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet with Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials about regulating Kabul Airport.

After the withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan in August and the IEA’s takeover of the country, Kabul’s airport mostly ground to a halt. Eight months later, the airport has still not resumed normal operations.