Almost all stranded Indian citizens evacuated from Afghanistan, confirms MEA spokesperson

In a major announcement, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Friday informed that India had evacuated all of its stranded nationals from Afghanistan. Speaking at a press conference, Bagchi asserted that all Indians who wished to be rescued were brought back to the country from Kabul through Dushanbe.

"We have evacuated more than 550 people on six separate flights, either directly from Kabul or through Dushanbe," the MEA spokesperson told on Friday. As per reports, 260 among the total rescued were Indian nationals. "This does not include Indian Embassy personnel who are also being evacuated. Separately the government has also facilitated the evacuation of Indian nationals through other countries and partners," ANI quoted Bagchi as saying.

On August 23, India brought back 146 first nationals in four different flights from the Qatari capital Doha as a part of the operation Devi Shakti. The citizens were flown in days after they were stranded amidst the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. Previously, another batch of 135 Indians returned to Delhi on Sunday. On August 22, a large group of over 300 people was flown back to Delhi, including two Afghan lawmakers as the countries rushed to complete the evacuation process amidst a spike in violence in the Taliban-occupied nation.

India has held its focus on the security situation of Indian citizens in Afghanistan and open the window for e-visa for the tenure of 6 months for Afghans. Meanwhile, MEA was also alerted by the security agencies about a recent raid conducted on an outsourced agency that led to a robbery of Afghan passports and Indian visas. 

Evacuation operations suffer huge blow after twin blasts in Kabul Airport

The last stage of evacuation operations in the war-torn nation suffered a huge blow after two bombs went off near the Hamid Karzai International Airport on Thursday killing over 90 people. The deceased included 13 on-duty U.S. army personnel stationed at the chaotic airport. India along with other world leaders strongly criticised the heinous attack.

The situation worsened in the evacuation compound of the Kabul Airport after the Taliban seized Afghan nationals from entering into the eviction zones to board outbound flights.The Taliban has also blocked out Afghan Sikhs from boarding evacuation flights. "The last flight (to India) had 40 odd people. We were hearing reports that Afghan nationals were facing difficulties in reaching the airport. We know some Afghan nationals including Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, couldn't reach the airport on August 25. Our flight has to come without them," the Indian MEA spokesperson concluded.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)

(Image: AP)