Mission Kabul: How India evacuated its embassy under extreme challenge - read here

After the capture of the Taliban, India fully evacuated its embassy in Afghanistan's capital Kabul including the calling back of the Indian ambassador. Earlier on Tuesday, a special Indian Air Force aircraft with 130 diplomats and around 20 Indians stranded in Afghanistan, landed in Jamnagar, Gujarat. This includes the Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel who defended the mission

This is the second time since 1996 that India has evacuated its mission in Kabul. The Indian mission was challenging and had to be executed under very difficult circumstances. Kabul fell to the Taliban extremists on Sunday after taking over the other provinces once the US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan.

NDTV reported that two Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft flew into Kabul on August 15. But due to the tense security situation on Sunday night, the evacuation mission could not succeed. It also reported that the Indian embassy was under the scrutiny of the Taliban. 

#WATCH | Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft that took off from Kabul, Afghanistan with Indian officials, lands in Jamnagar, Gujarat. pic.twitter.com/1w3HFYef6b

— ANI (@ANI) August 17, 2021

News reports suggest that the Taliban raided the Shahir Visa Agency in Afghanistan to know about its nationals who were looking to travel to India. The report further said that the first batch of Indians who boarded the IAF aircraft yesterday was initially stopped by the Taliban fighters on their way to the airport. The personal belongings of some staff members were also taken away by the Taliban.

The Indian Air Force flight took off for India yesterday amid very chaotic and heart-wrenching scenes at the Kabul airport as thousands of desperate Afghans tried to flee their country. The route to the airport was later closed and so the remaining Indian staff members could not be evacuated the same day.

More than 120 Indian mission members including Ambassador Rudrendra Tandon were successfully evacuated on Tuesday morning by IAF C-17.