New Delhi: Indian Air Force's C-17 aircraft with 168 people, including 107 Indian nationals, onboard that took off from Afghanistan's Kabul on Sunday, landed at Hindon IAF base in Ghaziabad. All the passengers will first undergo the COVID19 RT-PCR test.

Earlier, Air India 1956, carrying 87 Indians, departed from Tajikistan for New Delhi. Two Nepalese nationals also evacuated. The Indian Embassy in Dushanbe assisted and supported the evacuation.

External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said more evacuation missions from Afghanistan will follow.

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As regards Afghan nationals, India continued visa services through an e-Emergency visa facility, which has been extended to Afghan nationals. India has already received requests from Afghan Sikh and Hindu community leaders.

Early this week, Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft that took off from Kabul with more than 120 Indian officials on board landed in Gujarat’s Jamnagar. The Government of India had decided to evacuate Ambassador in Kabul and his Indian staff immediately from Afghanistan. On arrival, the Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan, Rudrendra Tandon, thanked IAF for evacuating Indians under challenging conditions.

Six days after the Taliban took back power in Afghanistan, the flow of people trying to flee continued to overwhelm Kabul. The United States has advised Americans in Afghanistan to avoid travelling to Kabul airport on Saturday due to “potential security threats”. The US embassy advisory asked people to wait for “individual instructions from a US government representative”.