India evacuates nationals from Afghanistan

NEW DELHI - India has evacuated hundreds of its nationals from Afghanistan on special flights, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Arindam Bagchi said an Air India plane carrying 87 Indians departed from Tajikistan for New Delhi.

"Two Nepalese nationals also evacuated," he wrote on Twitter, adding that passengers were evacuated earlier from Kabul by an Indian Air Force plane.

Bagchi said in another tweet that an Indian Air Force special repatriation flight with 168 passengers, including 107 Indian nationals, was headed to New Delhi from Kabul.

The Indian Embassy in Qatar also said the first batch of 135 Indians evacuated from Kabul to Doha in recent days is “being repatriated tonight to India."

It said embassy officials provided consular and logistical assistance to ensure the safe return of the nationals.

"We thank Qatar authorities and all concerned for making this possible," it said.

The unexpected power grab by the Taliban triggered a rush to flee Afghanistan.

India said earlier this week that it set up a special Afghanistan desk to coordinate repatriation and other requests from Afghanistan.