Afghan arrivals in Albania on 'hell to paradise'

Albania on Friday housed its first group of Afghan evacuees who made it out of their country despite days of chaos near the Kabul airport, including an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

Prime Minister Edi Rama visited some of the evacuees at the Golem coastal resort, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the capital Tirana.

A handout video from his office showed an unnamed Afghan woman telling him that "it still feels like a nightmare that we would wake up from”, adding she was grateful to have made it to safety.

A government statement said an Egyptian Almasria Universal Airlines plane landed at the Tirana international airport at 3:20 a.m. (01:20 GMT) carrying 121 people, including 11 children.

A government source said the flight from Kabul was organized by a U.S. non-governmental association and there was a stopover in Tbilisi, Georgia before landing in Tirana.

The government plans to allow the evacuees to stay in Albania for at least a year before they move to the United States for final settlement.

Albania may temporarily house up to 4,000 Afghans, people who would be at risk in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.