With intense fighting outside the country’s fourth largest city Mazar-i-Sharif, India has asked its nationals to leave Afghanistan today on a “special flight”.
As Taliban continued its weekend blitz across the north that saw urban centres fall in quick succession, with intense fighting outside the country’s fourth largest city Mazar-i-Sharif, India has asked its nationals to leave Afghanistan today on a “special flight”. India will also evacuate its diplomats from its consulate in Mazar E Sharif, reports said.
The Indian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif tweeted: “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.”
It asked Indian citizens who want to leave by the special flight to submit the details like their full name and passport number to the consulate immediately. According to the government data, around 1,500 Indians are currently staying in Afghanistan.
Sefatullah Samangani, deputy governor of Samangan province, said insurgents entered Aibak without a fight after community elders pleaded with officials to spare the city from more violence following weeks of clashes on the outskirts. “The governor accepted and withdrew all the forces from the city,” Samangani added, saying the Taliban were now in “full control”.
Mazar-i-Sharif is the largest city in the north and considered a linchpin to the government’s control over the area.
Afghanistan’s long-running conflict has escalated dramatically since May, when the US-led military coalition began the pullout of its forces – the exercise is set to be completed before the end of the month.
Mazar-i-Sharif, the biggest city in the north, is Taliban’s prime target since its fall would signal the total collapse of government control in a region that has traditionally been anti-Taliban. Kandahar and Helmand, the southern Pashto-speaking provinces from where the Taliban draw their strength, are also seeing an intense fight between the government forces and Islamist hardliners.
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