Qatar has been coordinating with several organisations to evacuate people from war-torn Afghanistan.
The second group of 146 Indian evacuees from Kabul to Doha have been repatriated to India on Sunday, the Indian Embassy confirmed in a tweet.
Indians who fled Kabul and arrived in Doha during the past week are being transported back to their country in coordination with Qatari authorities.
Evacuation continues!
IAF special repatriation flight with 168 passengers onboard, including 107 Indian nationals, is on its way to Delhi from Kabul. pic.twitter.com/ysACxClVdX— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) August 22, 2021
Some 135 Indians have already been repatriated to India from Doha, amid Indian efforts to rescue nationals from Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover.
“Embassy officials provided consular and logistics assistance to ensure their safe return,” the embassy said in a statement. It also thanked Qatari officials for cooperating to make the mission possible.
According to Indian media, around 500 people returned to India on Monday through different destinations and flights. However, many remain in Afghanistan.
“We urge all Indian nationals in Afghanistan requiring assistance to contact our Special Afghanistan Cell immediately, if not done so already,” Official Spokesperson of the Indian’s Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet with emergency contact details.
India has been permitted to operate two flights per day to evacuate its citizens from the Afghanistan capital, ANI news agency stated quoting government sources.
Over the last week, Qatar has been heavily engaged in support countries and organisations operating in Afghanistan to evacuate their civilians and workers from Afghanistan.
Thousands of Afghan civilians and foreign nationals have already arrived in Qatar where they are being temporarily housed before moving on to their final destinations.
On Sunday, Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani told Fox News that Qatar has taken “full responsibility” for evacuating people on the ground in Kabul.
“We are taking the full responsibility for them [evacuees], taking them to the airport and ensuring their safety throughout. We are trying to facilitate for other countries who don’t have access to reach people who are there on the ground,” said the foreign minister in a televised interview with the American outlet.
He added that Qatar is trying to facilitate the movement of civilians to the airport through the Gulf state’s embassy in Kabul. Earlier reports confirmed Doha’s ambassador to Kabul himself was personally accompanying convoys to the airport to ensure safe passage.
US President Joe Biden has described the evacuations as the “largest airlift of people” in history.
