Taliban proposed that Turkey run Afghanistan's Kabul airport: Turkish president

By Dilara Hamit

ANKARA (AA) – At the Taliban's proposal, Turkey may end up running the airport in the Afghan capital Kabul, with the Taliban itself providing security, but a decision is still pending, said Turkey’s president on Friday.

"The Taliban has proposed that we operate Kabul airport. We have not yet made a decision on this issue," said Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking amid continued evacuations in the wake of Thursday’s deadly terrorist attack just outside the airport grounds.

At a press conference in Istanbul before taking off to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Erdogan condemned the terror attack and stressed that such attacks by Daesh/ISIS show the grave threat the terror group poses to both the region and the world.

The ISIS-K terrorist group, the Afghan affiliate of Daesh/ISIS, has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on media channels.

Erdogan said that in the wake of the attack, the evacuation of Turkish troops as well as civilians remains ongoing and will be completed as soon as possible.

Erdogan also said that according to the Interior Ministry, within Turkey, there are currently some 300,000 unregistered and registered Afghan immigrants.

Stressing that Turkey cannot take another migration wave, he said it has built walls along its borders with Iran, Iraq, and Syria.

The death toll from the Thursday attack in Kabul has reached 90, with over 150 injured, according to media reports.

The attack targeted areas just outside the airport, where crowds have been gathering, seeking a way to get in and find flights out of the country.

The Taliban’s Aug. 15 takeover of the Afghan capital Kabul triggered an exodus from the country, with many citing uncertainty over Taliban rule as their reason for fleeing.