Around 50 diplomats and other staff members at the consulate in Afghanistan’s Kandahar are evacuated in sight of the “intense fighting near Kandahar city”, India has said. The fighting started because the Taliban tried to regain control over the country because the US pulled out its forces after nearly 20 years , sources have said. The personnel at the consulate were flown to Delhi last evening by special Air Force planes which avoided Pakistan air space, sources said.
“India is closely monitoring the evolving security situation in Afghanistan. the security and security of our personnel is paramount,” the foreign ministry has said during a statement.
“The Consulate General of India in Kandahar has not been closed. However, thanks to the extreme fighting near Kandahar city, India-based personnel are brought back for the nonce . I would like to stress that this is often a purely temporary measure until things stabilize. The Consulate continues to work through our local staff members,” added the statement by External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
On Tuesday, the Indian embassy in Kabul said that they had no plans to pack up . The consulates in Kandahar or Mazar-e-Sharif also will remain open, it had said. The consulates in Herat and Jalalabad were closed last year in April amid the pandemic.
Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs said India was carefully monitoring the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and its implications on the security and security of Indian nationals.
Over the previous couple of weeks, Afghanistan witnessed a series of terror attacks because the US looked to finish the withdrawal of its forces by the end of August, ending its military presence within the war-ravaged country for nearly 20 years
Amid growing concerns in India — which has been supporting the peace and reconstruction efforts — Afghan Ambassador Farid Mamundzay briefed Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on the situation on Tuesday.
The Indian embassy has asked all Indians visiting, staying and dealing in Afghanistan to exercise the utmost caution and avoid all non-essential travel within the country.
In its advisory, the embassy said the safety situation remains “dangerous” and terror groups have administered a series of attacks targeting civilians. Indian nationals additionally face a “serious threat” of kidnapping, the ministry said.
Afghanistan was invaded by the US in 2001 shortly after the 9/11 attacks that year carried out by Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda. Bin Laden, who went into hiding in Pakistan, was killed in May 2011.
