Another batch of 168 evacuees from Kabul lands at Hindon air force base

New Delhi: Another special repatriation flight from Kabul with 168 passengers on board, including 107 Indians, landed at the Hindon Air Force base in Ghaziabad on Sunday.

Earlier, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet said that the Indian Air Force plane is on its way to Delhi from Kabul.

Indian Air Force's C-17 aircraft that took off from #Afghanistan's Kabul earlier this morning, lands at Hindon IAF base in Ghaziabad.

168 people, including 107 Indian nationals, were onboard the aircraft. pic.twitter.com/gDMozFkzEA

— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2021

"Evacuation continues! IAF special repatriation flight with 168 passengers onboard, including 107 Indian nationals, is on its way to Delhi from Kabul," he posted on Twitter.

In the early hours of Sunday, just past midnight, two batches of evacuees from Kabul took off for India—one from Tajikistan and another from Doha, where they were in transit after being evacuated from the Afghanistan capital that is under Taliban control.

An Air India flight with 87 Indians evacuated from Kabul left Tajikistan for New Delhi late on Saturday. Two Nepalese nationals were also among those evacuated.

The passengers had been evacuated from Kabul by an Indian Air Force plane.

Bagchi tweeted the information with photographs of the evacuation: "Bringing Indians home from Afghanistan! AI 1956 carrying 87 Indians departs from Tajikistan for New Delhi. Two Nepalese nationals also evacuated. Assisted and supported by our Embassy @IndEmbDushanbe More evacuation flights to follow."

"Jubilant evacuees on their journey home!," he tweeted, with a video of the Indians shouting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' in relief and happiness.

In another operation, 135 Indians who were evacuated from Kabul to Doha were repatriated to India on Saturday night, the Indian embassy in Doha said,

The embassy said that they provided consular and logistic assistance to the Indians to ensure their safe return to India, and thanked the Qatar authorities and others for helping in the evacuation.

"1st batch of 135 Indians who were evacuated from Kabul to Doha over past days being repatriated tonight to India. Embassy officials provided consular and logistics assistance to ensure their safe return. We thank Qatar authorities and all concerned for making this possible," the Indian Embassy in Qatar tweeted.

Doha has become a major transit point for flights leaving Kabul, with most of the US Air Force flights landing in Doha in transit. (UNI)