On the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day, two Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 carriers landed in Kabul to evacuate the embassy staff and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel, reported NDTV. The rescue mission was undertaken amidst the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan’s capital city.
NDTV reported that no evacuations became possible on the intervening night between August 15 and August 16. As per the report, the Indian embassy was under the watch of the Taliban, and the security of the highly fortified Green Zone (the district that houses international embassies) was compromised. It was only on Monday (August 16) that the first batch of 45 Indians was successfully evacuated from Afghanistan.
The aircraft departed the Hamid Karzai International Airport under ‘challenging circumstances’, given that the local Afghans were desperate to escape from their country. Reportedly, the Taliban had initially stopped the 45 Indian personnel, who were evacuated yesterday. They had also taken away some of the personal belonging of the embassy staff members. The Taliban had also laid siege on the Shahir Visa agency, responsible for processing Afghan visas to India.
#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
But, the remaining 120 staff and ITBP contingent could not be evacuated on Monday. This was due to the presence of large mobs and the closure of the airport route due to chaos. However, all of them including ambassador Rudrendra Tandon were rescued safely on Tuesday morning. They had boarded the second Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster carrier and left for India on the morning of August 17. NDTV reported that the rescue mission was facilitated following an overnight meeting between EAM (External Affairs Minister) S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
At about 12 pm on August 17, the IAF’s C-17 Globemaster landed at Gujarat’s Jamnagar, safely with the evacuated Indians from Kabul.
The 🇮🇳 Air force C-17 aircraft, carrying 2nd batch of Indians from #Kabul landed in Jamnagar.
— G Kishan Reddy (@kishanreddybjp) August 17, 2021
Yet again India proves, no matter where our people are stuck in a crisis, they would be rescued, taken care of& will be repatriated safely.
Commend the efforts of @MEAIndia & @IAF_MCC. pic.twitter.com/BHEhjU7kLI
Taliban takes over Kabul in Afghnaistan
After a month-long offensive against the Afghan army, terrorists associated with the Islamist outfit Taliban finally reached the gates of Kabul on Sunday (August 15). Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is expected to become the new President of Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, while US-based Ali Ahmad Jalali will head an interim government for the time being before the Taliban forms a full-fledged government.
Meanwhile, chaotic scenes were observed at the Kabul Airport after the Taliban managed to capture the capital of Afghanistan. Videos have gone viral on the internet that shows Afghans hanging on to the tyres of flights leaving the country from the Kabul Airport and then falling off from the sky after take-off.
