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Leave Afghanistan, India tells its citizens
A security advisory issued by the Indian embassy in Kabul called on Indians to make travel arrangements before commercial air services are discontinued, and asked Indian firms operating in Afghanistan to immediately withdraw Indian employees from project sites before air services get affected.
India on Tuesday advised its nationals in Afghanistan to make immediate arrangements to return home, even as it began the process of evacuating its officials and citizens from the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif following advances made by Taliban fighters.
A security advisory issued by the Indian embassy in Kabul called on Indians to make travel arrangements before commercial air services are discontinued, and asked Indian firms operating in Afghanistan to immediately withdraw Indian employees from project sites before air services get affected.
All India-based officials and security personnel from the Indian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif and a small number of Indian nationals living in and around Afghanistan’s fourth-largest city were to be evacuated in a special flight late on Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
The exact number of people being brought back to India couldn’t be ascertained. The move came exactly a month after India evacuated some 50 officials and security personnel from the consulate in the southern city of Kandahar on July 10 following intense clashes between Afghan forces and Taliban fighters in the area.
The Indian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif, which was the only fully functional consulate out of four such missions across Afghanistan, asked Indian nationals to take the evacuation flight.
“A special flight is leaving from Mazar-e-Sharif to New Delhi. Any Indian nationals in and around Mazar-e-Sharif are requested to leave for India in the special flight scheduled to depart late today evening,” the consulate tweeted. It asked Indian citizens wishing to take the flight to provide their names and passport numbers.
There was no official word on the development from the external affairs ministry.
Fears of a Taliban assault on Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, have grown since the group took over the northern cities of Kunduz and Aibak. However, hours after the Indian consulate posted its tweet, the Afghan media quoted Balkh governor Mohammad Farhad Azimi as saying the Afghan troops had pushed back a Taliban offensive on Mazar-e-Sharif.
Azimi said the Taliban retreated after facing strong resistance from Afghan forces during clashes on Monday night. “The Taliban have focused their attention on Balkh province to take control,” Azimi told Tolo News.
The people cited above said the strength of the Indian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif was reduced recently because of the Taliban intensifying its campaign to overrun provincial capitals and urban centres. The consulate has been without a head since the last consul general, Vinesh Kalra, died of Covid-19 in Kabul in May.
Tuesday’s security advisory from the Indian embassy in Kabul was the third such alert issued since June 29 and reiterated a warning to avoid non-essential travel because of a serious threat of kidnapping. It added commercial air travel services to many provinces and cities were being discontinued with the escalation of violence.
“All Indian nationals visiting, staying and working in Afghanistan are strongly advised to keep themselves updated on the availability of commercial flights from various parts of Afghanistan and make immediate travel arrangements to return to India before commercial air services are discontinued to their place of stay/visit in Afghanistan,” the alert said.
“Indian companies operating in Afghanistan are strongly advised to immediately withdraw their Indian employees out of project sites in Afghanistan before air travel services get discontinued. Indian nationals working for Afghan or foreign companies in Afghanistan should immediately request their employer to facilitate their travel from project sites to India,” it added.
The embassy said the advisory was also valid for Indian media personnel, who should contact the mission’s public affairs and security wing for a personalised briefing, “including specific advice for the location they are travelling to”. This, it added, will help the media make a better assessment of “risks involved, given the rapid changes in security situation taking place in different parts of the country”.
According to information provided by the government to Parliament last week, there are currently some 1,500 Indian nationals in Afghanistan. Most of them are workers and professionals engaged for the hundreds of development projects being implemented by the Indian government under its pledges of $3 billion for reconstruction and development efforts.
The last security advisory issued on July 24 had said the security situation “remains dangerous in several provinces”. It said terror groups had escalated violent activities including targeting of civilians. “Indian nationals are not exceptions, and they additionally face a serious threat of kidnapping,” it added.
Since the previous advisory was issued, the security situation has further deteriorated as the Taliban have pushed ahead with their campaign targeting provincial capitals and urban centres after capturing wide swathes of territory in rural areas. With the drawdown of US and NATO troops set to be completed by August 31, experts believe the security situation will worsen.
In April last year, India shut its consulates in Herat and Jalalabad, ostensibly because of the spread of Covid-19, though some reports suggested security was a factor in the decision.
Indian officials have said the situation in Afghanistan is being closely monitored to ensure the security of all Indians. Worries about the safety of Indian nationals have grown since Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed by the Taliban in the border town of Spin Boldak while on an assignment embedded with Afghan forces.
