15 Bangladeshis left outside Kabul airport for 20hrs

Fifteen Bangladeshi citizens are stranded outside Kabul airport for about 20 hours as they are not getting permission from Afghan authorities to fly.

They are trying to return to Bangladesh for the second time on a special flight on Thursday.

Besides them, 160 Afghan students of the Asian University of Women in Chattogram are scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh on the same special flight.

Afghan Wireless Senior Officer Rajib Bin Islam, one of the 15, confirmed the matter to the media.

He said they were expected to fly to Bangladesh last Tuesday. However, they were not allowed to leave and had to return midway after starting for the airport.

"Later, we came to know that we have clearance for today (Thursday)," he added.

Rajib and his companions have been waiting outside the airport since Wednesday at 2:00pm (local time). They are waiting for the authorities' permission to enter the airport.

They are expected to return home on a special flight initiated by the United Nations which is scheduled to land in Chattogram.

Bangladesh has no embassy in Afghanistan. The Bangladesh embassy in Uzbekistan serves as a distant mission in Afghanistan.

According to the Bangladeshi embassy in Uzbekistan, 29 Bangladeshis were stranded in Afghanistan so far while five of them have already left Afghanistan.