Nepal on Friday issued a climbing permit for a Bahrain military expedition to climb 8,848.86 metres tall Mount Everest, the first group to get it in a year as the world's tallest peak reopens after being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mira Acharya, director of the Department of Tourism, the government agency responsible to issue the climbing permits, said that a 16-member team from the Bahrain Defence Force has been issued with the permit on Friday, after they completed the 7-day quarantine requirement.

The mandatory 7-day quarantine requirement for visitors, however, has been lifted, effective from Thursday.

The expedition of the royal guard of Bahrain is led by Prince Mohamed Hamad Mohamed Al Khalifa. The team is scheduled to head to Mt Everest base camp from Kathmandu next week.

The team arrived in Nepal on March 15, with about 2,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine, meant for locals of Samagaun, a village in Gorkha district.

But they landed into controversy after it was found that the vaccine they brought was without approval from Nepal’s drug regulator.

Al Khalifa declined to comment on the issue.

He, however, said that the team was excited to climb the world’s tallest peak which they have dreamt for months.

The Bahrain prince had successfully climbed Lobuche (6,119 meter) and Manaslu, the eighth-highest mountain in the world at 8,163 metres, in October 2020 as part of their preparations to climb Everest.

“Now, we are ready to climb Everest,” Al Khalifa told the Post. “Climbing Everest and raising the Bahrain flag on the highest point of the earth is an honour to my country.”

“We understand it will be extremely difficult. People die on this mountain. We are not taking it easy,” he said. “We are confident to reach the top.”

The royal team has hired 42 Sherpas to help in the expedition. “Sherpas are really strong. We cannot imagine climbing without them,” said Al Khalifa.

Jabal ad Dukhan is the highest point in Bahrain. It is 440 ft. (134 m.) high from the sea level.