A technical team was able to reopen Kabul airport on Saturday, to receive aid and that it would be prepared for civilian flights soon, said Qatar`s ambassador to Afghanistan, according to Al Jazeera.

The runway at Kabul airport has been repaired in cooperation with authorities in Afghanistan, the ambassador said, according to Al Jazeera. The Qatari news channel also said two domestic flights were operated from Kabul to the cities of Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar.

Meanwhile, at least 17 people were killed in celebratory gunfire in Kabul, news agencies and hospital sources said, as a Taliban spokesman criticised the aerial shootings in a statement.

“Avoid shooting in the air and thank God instead,” Zabihullah Mujahid said in a message on Twitter. “Bullets can harm civilians, so don’t shoot unnecessarily.”

The United States Congress is expected to finance the United Nations’ humanitarian work in Afghanistan but is unlikely to directly fund a new Taliban-led government, according to US officials, as the world body prepares to discuss aid for the war-torn country.

UN chief Antonio Guterres is travelling to Geneva to convene a high-level conference on aid for Afghanistan on September 13.