Taliban abducted around 150 people, most of whom are Indian citizens from an area close to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, today. However, the government sources claim they are not in immediate danger.
Man who managed to escape with his wife and a few others told media that the abductees include some Afghan citizens and Afghan Sikhs, but most of them are Indian citizens.
According to the source, the Indian nationals were being questioned at a local police station. Back-channel talks are ongoing to secure the release of all Indian citizens.
People who managed to escape by jumping out of the minivan windows claim Taliban officials "approached them" around 1 a.m. while they were driving to the Kabul airport in minivans
for evacuation. The Taliban "took them all to Tarakhil" when they couldn't get into the airport due to lack of cooperation.
“The passengers were told by the Taliban that they would be taken into the airport from a separate gate, but their whereabouts are unknown at this time,” according to the source.
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However, the Taliban has rejected the claims.
This comes only hours after an Indian Air Force transport plane successfully evacuated around 85 Indians from Kabul. The plane landed safely in Tajikistan and a second plane is on standby in India for potential evacuations.
According to sources, the administration is trying to get as many Indians as possible into Kabul's airport in order to keep them safe till the evacuation details are worked out.
Although India's embassy staff has been evacuated, an estimated 1,000 residents remain in several cities across Afghanistan. As not all of them registered themselves with the embassy, determining their location and condition is getting difficult.