By PTI
NEW DELHI: Around 300 Indian nationals are expected to be brought back home from Afghanistan by Sunday as part of India’s evacuation mission in view of the deteriorating security situation in Afghan capital Kabul, people familiar with the development said.
Over 80 Indians were on Saturday taken to Tajikistan capital Dushanbe from Kabul on board a military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force and the group will be brought back to Delhi in a special Air India flight from the central Asian city early on Sunday, they said.
Close to 100 Indians are likely to be brought back to India from Kabul in an Indian Air Force heavy-lift aircraft by Sunday, they added.
Separately, another group of over 90 Indians, most of whom are employees of a number of foreign companies that were operating in Afghanistan, were flown in to Doha by US and NATO aircraft.
These people are also set to be brought back home on Sunday, the people cited above said.
The total number of Indians to be evacuated on Sunday is around 300, they said.
India has already evacuated 200 people including the Indian envoy and other staffers of its embassy in Kabul in two C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft of the IAF after the Taliban seized control of Kabul last Sunday.
The first evacuation flight brought back over 40 people, mostly staffers at the Indian embassy, on Monday.
The second C-17 aircraft evacuated around 150 people, including Indian diplomats, officials, security personnel and some stranded Indians from Kabul on Tuesday.
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The 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 forces.
The mission to evacuate close to 200 Indians was accomplished with support from the US.
Following the evacuation, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the focus now would be to ensure the safe return of all Indian nationals from the Afghan capital.
The MEA said the immediate priority for the government is to obtain accurate information about all Indian nationals currently staying in Afghanistan.
It also requested Indians as well as their employers to urgently share the relevant details with the special Afghanistan cell.
According to a rough estimate earlier, 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 countries.
Meanwhile, Pentagon said that about 3,800 civilians have been evacuated from Afghanistan over the past day, amid widespread logistical challenges and backlogs at waystations in the Middle East and Europe.
Security threats slowed the progress of Americans and others through the gates at Kabul airport, as thousands desperately try to get on flights out of the country.
The Pentagon said that six U.S. military C-17 aircraft and 32 charter flights departed Kabul airport over the past 24 hours.
The military planes carried just 1,600 of those people.
Army Maj.Gen. Hank Taylor, Joint Staff deputy director for regional operations, told Pentagon reporters on Saturday that of the 17,000 people evacuated since Aug.15, just 2,500 have been Americans.
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U.S. officials have estimated there are as many as 15,000 Americans in Afghanistan, but acknowledge they don’t have solid numbers.
The evacuations have been hampered by screening and logistical strains at waystations such as al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which hit maximum capacity.
U.S. officials said they have limited numbers of military and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol screeners at the transit points, and they are struggling to work through glitches in the vetting systems.
Taylor said that the Kabul airport remains open, and that Americans continue to be processed if they get to the gates.
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He and Pentagon spokesman John Kirby declined to discuss security problems in any detail, but said the threat picture changes by the hour.
“We know that we’re fighting against both time and space,” Kirby said.
“That’s the race we’re in right now.”
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