Evacuation from Afghanistan: India brings back close to 400 people in three flights

India on Sunday brought back nearly 400 people including 329 of its nationals and two Afghan lawmakers in three different flights as part of its efforts to evacuate its citizens from Kabul in the backdrop of the deteriorating situation in the city after its takeover by the TalibanA total of 168 people including 107 Indians and 23 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus were flown from Kabul to the Hindon airbase near Delhi in a C17 heavylift military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force IAFAnother group of 87 Indians and two Nepalese nationals were brought back in a special Air India flight from Dushanbe a day after they were evacuated to the Tajikistan capital in an IAF aircraft officials saidAlso Read Taliban attacked ITBP contingent soldier returned from Afghanistan tells familySeparately a group of 135 Indians who were evacuated from Kabul to Doha in the last few days by the US and NATO aircraft were flown back from Doha to Delhi on a special flight they saidIndia carried out the evacuation missions in coordination with the US Qatar Tajikistan and several other friendly countriesThe group of 168 people who were evacuated from Kabul included Afghan lawmakers Anarkali Honaryar and Narender Singh Khalsa and their families people familiar with the evacuation mission saidEvacuation continues IAF special repatriation flight with 168 passengers on board including 107 Indian nationals is on its way to Delhi from Kabul External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted hours before the plane landed at HindonIt is learnt that the Indians evacuated to Doha from Kabul were employees of a number of foreign companies that were operating in AfghanistanBringing Indians home from Afghanistan AI 1956 carrying 87 Indians departs from Tajikistan for New Delhi Two Nepalese nationals also evacuatedAssisted and supported by our Embassy IndEmbDushanbe More evacuation flights to follow Bagchi tweeted at around 120 amIndia evacuated 200 people including the Indian envoy and other staffers of its embassy in Kabul in two C17 heavylift transport aircraft of the IAF after the Taliban seized control of KabulThe first evacuation flight brought back over 40 people mostly staffers at the Indian embassy on Monday lastThe second C17 aircraft evacuated around 150 people including Indian diplomats officials security personnel and some stranded Indians from Kabul on TuesdayThe Taliban swept across Afghanistan this month seizing control of almost all key towns and cities including Kabul in the backdrop of the withdrawal of the US forcesFollowing the evacuation the MEA said the focus now would be to ensure the safe return of all Indian nationals from the Afghan capitalThe MEA said the immediate priority for the government is to obtain accurate information about all Indian nationals currently staying in AfghanistanIt also requested the Indians as well as their employers to urgently share the relevant details with the special Afghanistan cellAccording to a rough estimate last week the number of Indians stranded in Afghanistan could be around 400 and India has been looking at ways to evacuate them including by coordinating with the US and other friendly countriesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever