Kabul: Taliban spokesperson has ejected reports of abduction of Indians, who are awaiting evacuation, near Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

Ahmadullah Waseq, a Taliban spokesman, has denied the report to a member of the Afghan media that reported on this story. On August 15, Taliban forces moved into Kabul following the collapse of the Afghan government.

Afghan reporter tweeted, "Zaki Daryabi reported "All Indians are safe. And the people who took them collecting their passports and checking them and investigating. A source told @Etilaatroz abductors told them that all will move back to the #kabulairport. now they are in a garage close to the kabul airport". 

Earlier, Pentagon officials said a delay in evacuation flights leaving Kabul’s airport earlier was the result of crowding at the US airbase in Qatar where people were being held temporarily before being moved to other US bases. Evacuation flights from Kabul airport have restarted after a brief pause of several hours due to overcrowding at a staging base in Qatar, the Pentagon said on Friday. President Joe Biden has said he could not guarantee the outcome of the emergency evacuation from Kabul’s airport, calling it one of the most “difficult” airlift operations ever.

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.

The Taliban government toppled by U.S.-backed local forces following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States is back in Afghanistan after two decades.