IAF sends plane to Kabul to evacuate stranded Indians
Monday, 16 August 2021 (20:52 IST)
New Delhi/Kabul: An Indian Air Force plane reached Kabul on Monday to evacuate Indians stranded there, a day after a flight of Air India evacuated Indian as well as Afghan nationals.
According to sources, at least one C17 Globemaster aircraft of Indian Air Force landed in Kabul for evacuation. The IAF had kept its transport aircraft ready, even as closing of airspace in Afghanistan proved a challenge.
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".
The flight will evacuate stranded embassy staff and others. Exact number of people waiting to be evacuated was not revealed.
The MEA announced on Monday that closing of 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)
