Afghanistan crisis live: India flies home 329 of its nationals from Kabul

India steps up evacuations as Taliban continue negotiations to form a government after seizing power a week ago in Kabul.

1:01 PM

India flies home 329 nationals from Kabul

India on Sunday brought back nearly 400 people, including 329 of its nationals and two Afghan lawmakers, in three separate flights as part of its efforts to evacuate its citizens from Kabul in the backdrop of the deteriorating situation in the city after its takeover by the Taliban, PTI reported.

11:58 AM

Trump assails Biden for Afghan pullout

Former President Donald Trump launched on Saturday a sustained attack on President Joe Biden's handling of the retreat of US forces from Afghanistan, which he called "the greatest foreign policy humiliation" in US history, said Reuters. Trump, a Republican who has dangled the possibility of running again for president in 2024, has repeatedly blamed Biden, a Democrat, for Afghanistan's fall to the Islamist militant Taliban, even though the U.S. withdrawal that triggered the collapse was negotiated by his own administration.

11:08 AM

12 people have been killed in and around Kabul airfield

 

At least 12 people have been killed in and around Kabul's single-runway airfield since last Sunday, Reutes reported quoting NATO and Taliban officials Some were shot and others died in stampedes, witnesses have said.

 

9:48 AM

India flies home 107 citizens from Kabul

India evacuated on Sunday 168 people, including 107 of its citizens, from Kabul in a military transport aircraft as Afghanistan’s capital city grapples with Taliban taking control of the country a week ago. Another group of 87 Indians and two Nepalese nationals who were flown in an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft to the Tajikistan capital of Dushanbe from Kabul on Saturday, arrived in Delhi on Sunday morning, PTI reported.

9:25 AM

Taliban offering a deal to rival group: Russian envoy to Kabul

The Russian ambassador in Kabul says the Taliban have asked his embassy to convey their offer of a deal to a remaining pro-government holdout in northern Afghanistan. Dmitry Zhirnov said on Saturday that a senior member of the Taliban's political leadership has asked Russia to tell fighters in the Panjshir Valley that the Taliban hope to reach a political agreement to settle the situation there, the AP reported.

9:16 AM

Taliban impose some order around Kabul airport

Taliban rulers imposed some order around chaotic Kabul airport on Sunday, making sure people formed orderly queues outside the main gates and not allowing crowds to gather at the perimeter, Reuters reported quoting witnesses.

8:27 AM

Biden admin may compel civilian airlines to carry Afghan evacuees

President Joe Biden's administration has told US airlines they could be ordered to help ferry people who have been evacuated from Afghanistan, two officials told Reuters on Saturday.

8:07 AM

107 Indian nationals flying to Delhi: MEA

7:56 AM

MEA offers help to Indian citizens

7:20 AM

Two flights carrying Indians land in Delhi

Two flights with Indians evacuated from Kabul land in Delhi from Dushanbe and Doha, reports NDTV

6:56 AM

India's evacuation flights last week

India's first evacuation flight brought back over 40 people, mostly staffers at the Indian embassy, on Monday. The second time i evacuated around 150 people including Indian diplomats, officials, security personnel and some stranded Indians from Kabul on Tuesday, PTI reported.

6:41 AM

Taliban questions Indian citizens, releases them

On Saturday, Indians waiting outside Kabul airport for evacuation flights were taken to a police station for questioning and checking of travel documents. The Taliban's brief 'picking up' of Indian citizens comes hours after an Air Force transport aircraft evacuated 85 Indians from Kabul, NDTV reported.

6:34 AM

Indian embassy employees evacuated

India has brought home all its embassy staff but an estimated 1,000 citizens remain in several Afghan cities and ascertaining their location and condition is proving to be a challenge, the Home Ministry has said.

 

6:32 AM

Indians to reach home today

More than 100 Indians were set to be flow out of Kabul to New Delhi in a heavy-lift aircraft on Sunday, Hindustan Times reported. Another group of 100 citizens, most of employees of Western companies, had been flown to Doha in US and Nato aircraft. This group will be brought to India as well by Sunday, the newspaper said.