Afghanistan receives over 8,000 foreign tourists in two years
More than 8,000 foreign tourists visited Afghanistan over the past two years, local media TOLOnews reported Saturday, citing a government official.
While Afghanistan falls into the hands of the Taliban with thousands of citizens attempting to leave the country, an Air India flight with around 129 passengers has left the capital city Kabul for Delhi.
As the situation in Afghanistan continued to turn from bad to worse, several Indian nationals, including diplomats have been evacuated from the country.
With the transfer of power to the Taliban, and its militants waiting in the outskirts of Kabul, panicked workers fled government offices while thousands of civilians have taken shelter in parks and open spaces in the city.
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India has put in place contingency plans for the evacuation of hundreds of its officials and citizens from Kabul following reports of Taliban militants entering the city.
Sources familiar with the developments said the Indian government will not put the lives of its staffers at the Indian embassy and Indian citizens in Kabul at risk. An Air India spokesperson has confirmed that flight AI 244 took off at 6.06 p.m. on Sunday from the Kabul airport carrying passengers, including diplomats and security officials posted in the Indian embassy of Kabul.
“We are monitoring the situation and as of now continuing with our scheduled flights to Kabul,” an Air India spokesperson has confirmed. Besides, the official said that the next flight for Kabul is scheduled to take off at 8.50 a.m. on Monday.
Sources also confirmed that a fleet of the C-17 Globemaster, a military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force, is kept on standby to undertake evacuation missions.
Since the US army has pulled out from the war-ravaged country, the Taliban in the past few weeks has been bringing provinces under its control raising concerns globally.
Indian government sources highlighted, “The government is closely monitoring the fast-paced developments in Afghanistan.” It is learnt that evacuations are being made as per the situation on the ground that is rapidly changing with each passing second in Afghanistan.
…With IANS inputs
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