{"id":40720,"date":"2021-08-22T12:57:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-22T12:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/?p=40720"},"modified":"2021-08-22T12:57:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T12:57:00","slug":"two-infants-among-168-evacuated-from-kabul-by-special-air-force-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/?p=40720","title":{"rendered":"Two Infants Among 168 Evacuated From Kabul By Special Air Force Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

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New Delhi: <\/b><\/p>\n

Two infants were among 168 people, including 107 Indian citizens and two Afghani senators, evacuated from Kabul on a special Air Force flight<\/a> this morning.<\/p>\n

The plane landed safely at the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad near Delhi.<\/p>\n

Visuals shared by news agency ANI showed one of the infants in the arms of the mother, while a young girl (presumably the older sister) smiles\u00a0happily and kisses the baby, who seems rather bewildered by the many new sights and sounds.<\/p>\n

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#WATCH<\/a> | An infant was among the 168 people evacuated from Afghanistan’s Kabul to Ghaziabad on an Indian Air Force’s C-17 aircraft pic.twitter.com\/DoR6ppHi4h<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the video a woman can also be heard speaking about the emotional and physical stress of the past seven days – since the Taliban walked into Kabul and took effective control of Afghanistan, triggering panic as locals and foreign nationals rushed to the airport to flee the war-torn country.<\/p>\n

Photographs showed the second infant also in the mother’s arms, with the father standing by her side, as the young family waits to be processed and administered a (mandatory) RT-PCR test.<\/p>\n

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India is operating evacuation flights from Kabul for its citizens and those of other countries<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

An Afghani woman who was on the Air Force flight told ANI the situation in her country is “deteriorating”, and that the Taliban had burned down her house.<\/p>\n

“Situation was deteriorating in Afghanistan, so I came here with my daughter and two grandchildren. Our Indian brothers and sisters came to our rescue. They (the Taliban) burnt down my house. I thank India for helping us,” the unnamed woman said.<\/p>\n

A few hours before the Air Force flight landed, three others – operated by Air India, IndiGo and Vistara – carrying evacuees from Afghanistan<\/a> touched down at the national capital.<\/p>\n

The flights were bringing back people evacuated from Kabul earlier this week<\/a> and flown first to Dushanbe in Tajikistan and Doha in Qatar, due to safety concerns over flight routes out of Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

India has been allowed to operate two flights per day from Kabul to evacuate its citizens and those of other countries stranded in Afghanistan, ANI has said, quoting government sources.<\/p>\n

Several of the 168 people flown back by the Air Force today were among 150 picked up by the Taliban yesterday, during a chaotic few hours that began with local reports that Indians had been abducted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Government sources later clarified the group had been taken for routine questioning and checking of travel documents ahead of their evacuation.<\/p>\n

Foreign Minister S Jaishankar this week said the government is “very carefully” monitoring the situation<\/a> in Kabul and Afghanistan, but that the immediate focus is on safely evacuating all citizens.<\/p>\n

Asked how India plans to deal with Taliban leadership, he said it is “early days”, and did not comment if the government is touch with the group.<\/p>\n

With input from ANI<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n