Five Afghan air force pilots, who left Afghanistan after the fall of the former government led by Ashraf Ghani, have returned to the country and resumed work, announced the Ministry of Defense of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on Sunday.
"Five Afghan pilots who left country, based on propaganda, answered our call and came back to Afghanistan," Tolo News quoted Enayatullah Khwarizmi, MoD's spokesperson as saying.
With the fall of Ashraf Ghani's government, many of the experienced military and air force staff of Afghanistan fled the country to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America, but no details are available about where these five pilots are returning from, Tolo News reported.
"The leadership of the Ministry of Defense has consistently called on everyone to come back and serve their country," said Khwarizmi.
In the meantime, Anas Haqqani, a senior member of the Islamic Emirate, welcomed the return of Afghan pilots on Twitter, saying "Afghanistan currently needs professionals".
"Afghanistan needs everyone who is a specialist: doctors, engineers, pilots and teachers," Tolo News quoted Sarwar Neyazai, a military expert as saying.
Citing the reports, Tolo News reported that around 140 Afghan air force pilots and personnel who were trapped in Tajikistan after leaving Afghanistan have since gone to the United States.
According to Afghan media, the return of the Afghan pilots comes days after the United Nations said in a report that over 100 Afghan military forces of the previous government were killed since the Islamic Emirate came to power. However, the report was denied by the Islamic Emirate.
( With inputs from ANI )
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