As the Taliban activities have advanced in Afghanistan, Air India’s last commercial flight with up to 126 passengers onboard has took off from Kabul and is expected to arrive in New Delhi tonight, according to sources. All other flights from Kabul airport have been suspended, the sources added. The decision was taken keeping the passengers safety in mind as the military activity in the Kabul airspace has intensified.
Meanwhile, India has put in place contingency plans to evacuate hundreds of its officials and citizens from Kabul that has been gripped by fear and panic following reports of Taliban fighters entering the outskirts of the Afghan capital city on Sunday. People familiar with the development said the government will not put the lives of its staffers at the Indian embassy and Indian citizens in Kabul at any risk and plans have already been finalised in case they require emergency evacuation.
“The government is closely monitoring the fast-paced developments in Afghanistan. We will not put the lives of our staff at the Indian embassy in Kabul at any risk,” said one of the persons cited above. Specifically asked when the Indian staffers and citizens in Kabul will be evacuated, they said decisions will depend on the ground situation.
It is also learnt that a fleet of the C-17 Globemaster military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force is kept on standby to undertake evacuation missions. According to reports from Kabul, Taliban fighters have entered the outskirts of the city, triggering panic and fear among the residents.
As the situation deteriorated in Kabul, the United States and the embassies of several other countries began evacuating their staff from the Afghan city.
In the last few days, the Taliban fighters have swept through most parts of Afghanistan, seizing control of around 25 of the 34 provincial capitals, including cities such as Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad.
Taliban fighters, who entered the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday, said they were awaiting a peaceful transfer of the city after promising not to take it by force, but the uncertainty panicked residents who raced to the leave the capital, with workers fleeing government offices and helicopters landing at the US Embassy.
President Ashraf Ghani, who spoke to the nation Saturday for the first time since the offensive began, appears increasingly isolated as well. Warlords he negotiated with just days earlier have surrendered to the Taliban or fled, leaving Ghani without a military option. Ongoing negotiations in Qatar, the site of a Taliban office, also have failed to stop the insurgents’ advance. Thousands of civilians now live in parks and open spaces in Kabul itself, fearing the future.
Militants posted photos online early Sunday showing them in the governor’s office in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. Abrarullah Murad, a lawmaker from the province told The Associated Press that the insurgents seized Jalalabad after elders negotiated the fall of the government there. Murad said there was no fighting as the city surrendered.
(with inputs from agencies)
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