Close to 300 Indian nationals were expected to return home from Afghanistan by Sunday as part of the government’s elaborate efforts to speed up the evacuation of all citizens against the backdrop of the deteriorating situation at Kabul airport.
More than 100 Indians were set to be flown out of Kabul to New Delhi in a C-17 heavy lift aircraft and they too are expected to reach home by Sunday, the people said.
More than 80 Indian nationals flown in an Indian Air Force (IAF) transport aircraft from Kabul to the Tajikistan capital of Dushanbe on Saturday will return home in a special Air India flight that will reach New Delhi by early on Sunday, people familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity.
Another group of 100-odd Indians, most of them employees of firms from Western countries, had been flown in US and NATO aircraft to Doha. This group too will be brought back to India by Sunday, the people added.
As reports emerged of Taliban fighters opening fire and using harsh methods to control thousands of people who have been converging on Kabul airport, the US embassy issued a security alert advising American citizens to avoid travelling to the airport because of “potential security threats outside the gates”. The alert also asked Americans to “avoid airport gates at this time unless you receive individual instructions from a US government representative to do so”.
Earlier on Saturday, there was confusion for several hours about the status of some 150 Indians who were to be evacuated following reports that they were rounded up by the Taliban near Kabul airport.
The development was first reported on the website of the Afghan media outlet Etilaatroz and its sister publication Kabul Now, which cited a source as saying that more than 150 people, most of them Indians, had been “abducted”. The outlets subsequently quoted a Taliban spokesman as rejecting the allegations of abduction.
Etilaatroz also reported the Indians were safe and their passports were checked before they were sent to the airport.
There was no official word from the Indian side on the development. The government has kept all details of the evacuation of Indian nationals from Afghanistan under tight wraps because of operational and security reasons.
People familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity that there were problems when a group of more than 200 people, including around 70 Afghan nationals and the remainder Indians, came to Kabul airport in a convoy late on Friday. The Taliban, who are outside the airport, stopped the group, following which most of the Afghans reportedly escaped.
The Afghan nationals included Sikhs and Hindus, and reports said the Taliban had said they would not be allowed to leave the country.
The Indians were rounded up by the Taliban and taken to an unknown location close to the airport for further checks, the people said. Following inquiries and checking of documents such as passports, the group was sent back to the airport on Saturday afternoon, the people added.
The development occurred after an Indian military aircraft evacuated more than 80 Indians from Kabul to Dushanbe. Another military aircraft was on standby at Dushanbe, which is being used as a transit point by the Indian Air Force because of the limited time slots available at Kabul airport, which is controlled by the US military.
The people cited above said the biggest problem in the evacuation of Indians is the journey from different parts of the city to the airport as Kabul has been taken over by the Taliban, who have set up check posts across the capital. Adding to the worries of the Indian side are reports that terrorists from Pakistan-based groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Haqqani Network are also present among the Taliban.
With the civilian side of Kabul airport still closed, all evacuations are being done from the military side, outside which thousands of Afghans have gathered in the hope of getting on board the flights being operated by countries such as the US and the UK. Numerous videos have emerged of Taliban fighters opening fire outside the airport to drive back crowds.
India evacuated its envoy, diplomats, officials, security personnel and some nationals on two C-17 heavy lift aircraft on Monday and Tuesday. It is believed more than 500 Indians are still in Afghanistan and the government is focused on their safe repatriation. A few hundred Afghan Sikhs and Hindus too will be brought to India.
The Taliban marched into Kabul on August 15 after the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government. Most of the top leaders of the group, including Abdul Ghani Baradar, have returned to Afghanistan and are engaged in consultations of forming a government.
