The United Arab Emirates has sent a plane carrying “urgent medical and food aid” to Afghanistan, according to the official WAM news agency, nearly three weeks after the Taliban took over the control of the country.
The “assistance comes within the framework of the humanitarian role being played by the UAE to provide full support to brotherly Afghan people in such current circumstances”, WAM said on Friday.
The UAE foreign ministry confirmed to the AFP news agency that “this is the first [Emirati] aid flight since the recent events in Afghanistan”.
The Gulf country was one of the only three countries in the world to recognise the Taliban during its previous rule between 1996 and 2001.
Taliban fighters celebrated with gunfire on Tuesday, hours after the last US forces abandoned Kabul, closing a frenzied airlift operation that saw more than 123,000 foreign nationals and Afghans flee.
The United States invaded Afghanistan and toppled its Taliban government in 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 attacks by al-Qaeda group, which had sought sanctuary in the country.
The US withdrew its soldiers after signing a deal with the Taliban, which pledged not to allow Afghan soil for attacks against the West. The Gulf nation of Qatar, which hosts the Taliban’s political office, was the venue for the talks between the US and the Taliban.
Qatar on Thursday said it was working with the Taliban to reopen the Kabul airport which was damaged during the chaotic evacuation exercise carried out by the Western countries.
The UAE is one of a number of Gulf states that have been instrumental in staging posts for evacuation flights for foreigners and Afghans, along with Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.
