IAF aircraft carrying 120 Indian officials takes off from Kabul

New Delhi [India], August 17 (ANI): An Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft has taken off from Kabul with more than 120 Indian officials in it, said sources.

Sources also said that the staff was brought inside the secure areas of the airport safely on Monday evening. India is closely monitoring the fast-changing situation in Afghanistan and will be deciding on the evacuation of diplomatic personnel from Kabul, sources said.

Afghanistan government collapsed on Sunday with President Ashraf Ghani leaving the country and the Taliban’s entry into the capital, the New York Times reported. Earlier the same day, an Air India flight AI244 carried 129 passengers has arrived in Delhi from Kabul. They expressed concerns about the safety and security of people back home, saying the situation is ‘really bad’ in the country.

Taliban entered Kabul on Sunday and took control of the presidential palace. Taliban leaders have been discussing future government plans in Doha after gaining control of Kabul and seizing the presidential palace in Afghanistan’s capital, as per a media report. President Ashraf Ghani fled the country as the terrorists entered the city on Sunday. Panic gripped the Afghan capital as people fear about a return to the Taliban’s brutal rule and the threat of reprisal killings.

Thousands of Afghans flooded the tarmac on Monday morning, at one point swarming around a departing US military plane as it taxied down the runway. (ANI)