Afghan Refugees Fleeing Taliban Arrive in Albania

The refugees fleeing the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan were flown in to Tirana airport on Friday morning, where they received medical check-ups before being sent onwards to the city of Durres.

Voice of America reported that about 121 people - civil society activists and their families, including children and 11 babies - arrived from Kabul after the plane carrying them made a stopover in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi.

Albania's Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Olta Xhacka and the US Ambassador to Turana, Yuri Kim, went to the airport to see the first group of refugees.

"Day after day, we had to face delays, new difficulties, new obstacles, as a result of the situation [in Kabul], but today I am really relieved that finally the first plane managed to land, bringing here a first contingent of Afghans, men, women and children," Xhacka said in a video posted on Facebook.

She added that Albania has accepted to temporarily shelter around 4,000 Afghan refugees until their applications to go to the US are complete.

"We have done everything to welcome them and offer them dignified living conditions during their stay here," she said.

Albania was one of the first countries that agreed to offer temporary refuge to people fleeing Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control.

"How could we let them down?" said Prime Minister Edi Rama in an interview with CNN on Wednesday.

The Albanian authorities have prepared several sites in Tirana, Durres and Berat, including hotels and student accommodation, where the Afghans who are expected to come will stay for several weeks.

The government on Wednesday set up a task force to manage the Afghan refugees' stay in Albania. With temporary protection statu,s they are...