On Tuesday, India started evacuating its staff from its consulate in Afghanistan’s Mazar-e-Sharif in view of the rapidly escalating violence by the Taliban around the capital city of Balkh province, people familiar with the development informed.
According to the latest report by PTI, the Indian-based staff of the consulate and a number of Indians residing in Mazar-e-Sharif are being evacuated due to the deteriorating security scenario in the city as well as areas around it, they said.
It has come to the fore that a special aircraft of the Indian Air Force will evacuate the staff as well as the Indian citizens from the fourth-largest city of Afghanistan.
“A special flight is leaving from Mazar-e-Sharif to New Delhi. Any Indian nationals in and around Mazar-e-Sharif are requested to leave for India in the special flight scheduled to depart late today evening,” the Indian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif tweeted.
The Indian citizens who want to leave by the special flight have been asked to submit the details like their full name and passport number to the consulate immediately.
The consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif, meanwhile, will continue to operate through the local staff members.
According to government data, around 1,500 Indians are currently residing in Afghanistan.
The Taliban, as of Monday, was in control of 6 provincial capitals in Afghanistan which is a major blow to the Afghan government who has been losing ground.
Reportedly, the Taliban have entered Ghazni city. Ghazni will be the first provincial capital in the Southeastern part of Afghanistan to be taken over by the Taliban, in case it falls. Ghazni connects Kabul and Kandahar. The city also hosts a significant Sikh & Hindu population