New Delhi: 

Two Indian Air Force C-17 transports flew into Kabul on August 15 to evacuate Indian embassy personnel, including Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel who defend the mission. More details of the challenging and difficult circumstances under which the Indian mission staff were evacuated have emerged today.

The security situation overnight between August 15 and 16 deteriorated sharply and no evacuations became possible then. The Indian embassy was also under observation by the Taliban and the high-security Green Zone was breached.

The Taliban terrorists raided the Shahir Visa Agency, which processes visas for Afghans looking to travel to India.

The first batch of 45 Indian personnel who were evacuated on the first IAF aircraft yesterday were initially stopped by Taliban sentries on their way to the airport.

The personal belongings of a few Indian staff members were taken away by the Taliban terrorists as they proceeded to the airport, sources have said.

The first Indian transport aircraft that left Kabul yesterday took off under very challenging circumstances given the chaos at Kabul airport, when thousands of desperate Afghans came to the airport in the hope of flying out of the country.

The remaining members of the Indian diplomatic and security contingent were unable to evacuate yesterday since the route to the airport was closed and there were mobs at the airport.

An overnight conversation between the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar may have helped in moving the Indian personnel to Kabul airport this morning.

All the remaining Indian mission members – over 120 of them – including Ambassador Rudrendra Tandon, boarded the second IAF C-17 and safely left Afghan airspace this morning. They landed in Delhi just before 10 am.