New Delhi, Aug 16 (UNI) India is continuing its evacuation efforts, even as the closing of airspace in Afghanistan came up as a hurdle, with one military aircraft returning with some evacuees on Monday, sources said.
A C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the Indian Air Force landed in Delhi on Monday with evacuees, while another IAF plane is said to be in Kabul.
Sources said more evacuation efforts will be made and did not share any details of the plan.
An Indian Air Force spokesperson however refused to comment whether it was involved in the evacuation operation, and said he had "no information to share".
Airspace over Afghanistan has been closed for commercial flights. The External Affairs Ministry announced on Monday that the closing of commercial operations at Kabul airport has put a pause on the repatriation efforts.
Late on Sunday night, an Air India flight returned after evacuating 129 people, both Indian and Afghan nationals.
In a reply to Rajya Sabha on August 5, Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan had said there are approximately 1500 Indian nationals in Afghanistan including the Government of India officials.
The Taliban entered Kabul on Sunday, after which President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
Taliban has seized control of around 25 of 34 provincial capitals including cities such as Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad.
UNI AO JW2309