The Indian Force aircraft C-130J has evacuated over 85 Indians news agency ANI reported on Saturday. The IAF’s aircraft will drop off the Indians at Tajikistan’s Dushanbe and they will then be picked up by an Air India plane.
The government has kept its evacuation plan under wraps and airlifted the citizens after the Indian side received credible inputs about possible threats from rogue elements and Pakistani terror groups.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also held a high-level meeting during which he instructed officials to ensure all Indian nationals are evacuated safely from war-torn Afghanistan, which has been overtaken by the Taliban.
The two C-17s flew into Kabul using a circuitous route through Iranian airspace and over the Arabian Sea in order to avoid flying over Pakistan or spending too much time in the uncontrolled Afghan airspace.
A Nato official told Reuters on Saturday that about 12,000 foreigners and Afghans working for embassies and international aid groups have been evacuated from Kabul airport since Sunday