Air India flight with 129 passengers from Afghanistan arrives in Delhi
There was much uncertainty over whether the flight could make its way back as Taliban forces had entered the national capital of Afghanistan after rampaging through most of the strife-torn country these past days.
There was much uncertainty over whether the flight could make its way back as Taliban forces had entered the national capital of Afghanistan after rampaging through most of the strife-torn country these past days.
There was much uncertainty over whether the flight could make its way back as Taliban forces had entered the national capital of Afghanistan after rampaging through most of the strife-torn country these past days.
New Delhi: Air India flight AI-244, which took off earlier in the day from Kabul with 129 passengers, landed in Delhi this evening.
The flight which departed Kabul at 6:06 pm landed in Delhi some minutes before 8 pm.
There was much uncertainty over whether the flight could make its way back as Taliban forces had entered the national capital of Afghanistan after rampaging through most of the strife-torn country these past days.
Officials of Air India had maintained that there was no plan yet to cancel its Delhi-Kabul-Delhi flight. There are also plans to operate the flight scheduled on Monday. However, that remains to be seen.
The airline is monitoring the situation closely and it would take appropriate action as required, officials informed.
Currently, only Air India is operating flights between India and Afghanistan.
India has put in place contingency plans to evacuate hundreds of its officials and citizens from Kabul that has been gripped by fear and panic following reports of Taliban fighters entering the outskirts of the Afghan capital city on Sunday.
People familiar with the development said the government will not put the lives of its staffers at the Indian embassy and Indian citizens in Kabul at any risk and plans have already been finalised in case they require emergency evacuation.
A senior interior ministry official told Reuters that the rebels were pouring in "from all sides" into the city but gave no further details.
A spokesman for the terrorist group said it was in talks with the government for a peaceful surrender of Kabul.
The Taliban appear to have gained an upper hand ever since the US-led forces withdrew the bulk of their remaining troops over the past month as Afghanistan's military defences collapsed.
(With inputs from PTI)