Afghanistan: India Evacuates Diplomats, Personnel From Mazar-e-Sharif Consulate; Asks Indians To Leave

In a major development, India has evacuated its diplomats and personnel from its consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif, while the Indian Embassy in Kabul has issued a security advisory asking Indians to leave Afghanistan, reports Indian Express.

The consulate made an announcement about a special flight leaving Mazar-e-Sharif from New Delhi on Tuesday (10 August) evening and urged Indian nationals in and around Mazar-e-Sharif to leave for India on the special flight.

In the third such advisory in three months, the Indian Embassy has emphasised on an escalation of violence and discontinuation of air services to several provinces and cities. The previous advisories had come out on 24 and 29 July.

The Embassy has also asked all Indian nationals to register themselves with its website or by email.

It should be noted that Indian diplomats and staff had also left the consulate in Kandahar last month owing to security concerns.

Before that, India had evacuated the consulates in Herat and Jalalabad last year in view of the pandemic. The Herat and Jalalabad consulates are now being run with the help of local Afghan staffers who number about 15-20 persons at each location.