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Afghanistan: Flight carrying 87 Indian evacuees departs from Tajikistan

Dushanbe - Two Nepalese nationals were also on board the Air India plane.

An Air India flight carrying 87 Indian nationals has departed from Tajikistan amid the deteriorating situation in war-torn Afghanistan, an Indian official said on Sunday.

Taking to Twitter, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "Bringing Indians home from Afghanistan! AI 1956 carrying 87 Indians departs from Tajikistan for New Delhi. Two Nepalese nationals also evacuated. Assisted and supported by our Embassy @IndEmbDushanbe. More evacuation flights to follow."

He also said that the passengers were earlier evacuated from Kabul by an IAF aircraft. Expressing their happiness while coming back home from a war-torn nation safely, the Indian evacuees were chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' inside the flight.

So far, the Indian Air Force has already evacuated around 180 passengers, including its ambassador to Afghanistan and all other diplomats. India has been allowed to operate two flights per day from Kabul to evacuate its nationals stranded in Afghanistan, government sources told ANI.

The permission has been granted by the American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces which have been controlling operations of the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban on August 15. Two Indian aircraft would be permitted to operate from the Kabul airport which is under the control of American security forces, government sources told ANI.

Afghanistan's situation is dwindling as people are in a rush to leave the nation after the Taliban seized control last week. On August 15, the country's government fell soon after President Ashraf Ghani left the nation. Countries have been evacuating their citizens from the war-torn nation. Meanwhile, the MEA has said the government is committed to the safe return of all Indian nationals from Afghanistan.

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