Afghanistan's men's national cricket team were among more than 300 passengers on board a civilian flight that departed Kabul for Doha Wednesday, Reuters reported citing a senior Qatari official.
HE the Assistant Foreign Minister and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lolwah bint Rashid AlKhater wrote on Twitter that the team travelled at the request of the interim government in Afghanistan so they could take part in a training camp ahead of an "upcoming championship".

"The Afghanistan official cricket team on their way to Qatar to get ready for their next championship, wishing them best of luck," she tweeted along with a video of the cricketers and other people before boarding the Qatar Airways flight in Kabul, followed by the flight taking off on its way to Doha.


The team is due this month to take part in the Twenty20 World Cup in the UAE.
HE AlKhater said there were also citizens from Japan, Belgium, Ireland, Britain, Germany, Finland, France, Italy, Sweden and Canada on board, as well as Afghan journalists.
It was the sixth passenger flight out of Kabul and carried more than 300 passengers, making "it the biggest flight yet since August", she said.





In response, the German Foreign Office, through a tweet, thanked Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for "the continued co-operation and support in our efforts to help German citizens."


Earlier this week, the fifth passenger had flown from Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport to Doha's Hamad International Airport carrying more than 230 passengers, mostly Afghans.