An Emirates flight from Dubai to Kabul returned to the United Arab Emirates after repeatedly flying over Pakistani airspace near the Afghan border. The decision not to disembark came at a time when the Taliban were already ruling the outskirts of the Afghan capital.
The hijacking took place during flight EK-640, which departed Dubai around 11:05 a.m. local time on Sunday, but circled the airport eight times at around 30,000 feet before diverting to its home country. ‘origin without landing. Emirates currently offers a daily flight to Kabul, but operations have just been suspended indefinitely.
Evacuation of foreigners from Afghanistan is now largely dependent on military flights, after the few other commercial airlines suspended those in Kabul.
In recent weeks, the Taliban have taken control of several major cities in Afghanistan, with only Kabul remaining under government control. As a result, the last few days have been fraught with tension, with American and British troops rushing to help evacuate foreigners from the besieged city.
Additional US and British forces were sent to Afghanistan on Friday and Saturday, but military commanders have scheduled an evacuation later this week.