INDIA EVACUATES STAFF FROM KANDAHAR CONSULATE AS TALIBAN ADVANCE INTO CITY

Sun 11 July 2021:

India’s ministry of External affairs confirmed that while the Kandahar consulate has not been closed, its diplomats and security personnel have been flown back home on a temperory basis. The Consulate continues to operate via its local staff members and arrangements are being made to continue delivery of via and consular services through the Kabul Embassy, stated the MEA. It added, “India remains committed to a peaceful, sovereign and democratic Afghanistan”.

Our response to media queries on the Indian Consulate in Kandahar:
https://t.co/aQ0YPgl6Vf pic.twitter.com/DAPT3kYdM4

— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) July 11, 2021

As the US troops pull out of Afghanistan, India has temporarily shut down the Indian Consulate in Kandahar on Saturday as Taliban advance into city, as per sources. 50 Indian diplomats have been evacuated by a special flight from Kandahar say sources.

The official stated that India is working to ensure delivery of visa and consular services via the embassy in Kabul.

On July 9, Taliban announced that it now controls 85 percent of Afghanistan’s territory. The revelation was made by Shahabuddin Delawar, a key negotiator for the group, who, speaking to media reporters in Moscow, boasted that the controlled area now encompasses 250 out of 398 districts.

Afghanistan continues to be ravaged by intense fighting between the Taliban and the Afghan government as the US forces are withdrawing from the country. The current situation has prompted several countries, including Russia, to suspend the work of their consulates in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, despite the Taliban’s promises to guarantee the safety of foreign diplomats.

US President Joe Biden has said that the US military mission in Afghanistan will end on August 31, pushing back against the notion that the US mission failed. Last week, the US abandoned Bagram airbase, the longtime staging ground for US military operations in the country, without informing the Afghan officials. The Pentagon has also said that the withdrawal of US forces is 90 percent complete.

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