IAF flight evacuates over 85 Indians from Kabul amid Taliban crisis

NEW DELHI: In an effort to evacuate Indian nationals in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the capital city Kabul, an Indian Air Force (IAF) C-130J transport aircraft took off from Kabul with over 85 Indians, informed official sources on Saturday.

"An Indian Air Force C-130J transport aircraft took off from Kabul with over 85 Indians. The aircraft landed in Tajikistan for refuelling. Indian government officials are helping in evacuation of Indian citizens on the ground in Kabul," sources told ANI.

The government has been putting in coordinated efforts to bring back citizens safely.

India had earlier also picked up its consulate staff from Kandahar after the town was about to be taken over by the Taliban terrorists. The Indian officials from the Kandahar consulate had later stationed themselves in the Kabul embassy and were overseeing work from there, the sources had said.

After the capture of the capital Kabul earlier this week, the Indian Air Force operated two sorties of the C-17 Globemaster after getting clearance from the US forces at the airport there and brought back around 180 officials, ITBP staffers and a few journalists.

The Indian Air Force has already evacuated about 180 Indian passengers.

Afghanistan government collapsed on August 15 with President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country and the Taliban's entry into the capital, as per media reports.

Taliban leaders have been discussing future government plans in Doha after gaining control of Kabul and seizing the presidential palace in Afghanistan's capital, as per a media report.

Panic gripped the Afghan capital as people fear about a return to the Taliban's brutal rule and the threat of reprisal killings. Several people have been desperately attempting to flee to the country on Monday flooded the Kabul airport and clinged around a departing US military plane.

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