KABUL’S airport reopened with domestic flights taking off Saturday after a team of engineers from Qatar repaired parts of the airport’s air traffic control system last week, according to Muhammad Salim Saad, the Taliban commander in charge of airport security.

But the airport is still operating without radar or navigation systems, making it difficult to resume international civilian flights, a key step to enable refugees to leave. But the Qatari foreign ministry said Qatari technical officials had prepared the airport for international humanitarian flights.

The resumption of domestic flights sees the Taliban cementing its civilian control of the country, as it faces myriad challenges, including international skepticism, a freeze on government reserves and its need to meet the expectations of fighters who fought two decades for victory. The Taliban has been expected to announce a government for several days.

Taliban fighters took control of several strategic districts during intense fighting Saturday against resistance fighters in the northern Panjshir Valley, the last remaining province in Afghanistan holding out against the Islamist group.

Several domestic flights took off from Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport on Saturday for cities in the nation’s north, west and south.

“Officially the airport is open,” said Saad yesterday. “Over the past two days, we’ve repaired more than we expected.

“I want to assure all people that the airport is safe and secure,” Saad said. He added there were remaining technical issues that should be fixed this week.

International commercial airlines are unlikely to resume before radar and navigation systems are fully operational.

A humanitarian aid flight from the United Arab Emirates landed at the airport Saturday, and a humanitarian flight from Qatar arrived Saturday according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry. The Qatari aid included 17 tons of medical aid, food stables and baby formula, it said.

(SD-Agencies)