GHAZIABAD: Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft C-17 Globemaster, carrying 24 Indian and 11 Nepalese evacuees from Kabul landed at Hindon Airport on Thursday, under Operation Devi Shakti.

“Indian Embassy and Indian Government rescued us and brought us here to Delhi. We are very thankful to them,” said Shiva, a Nepali national among the people who were evacuated from Afghanistan and brought to India.

Earlier Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had informed about the evacuation flight via Twitter. “Op Devi Shakti in action!@IAF_MCC flight with 24 Indian and 11 Nepalese evacuees from Kabul is on its way to Delhi. #DeviShakti,” Bagchi tweeted.

The evacuation operation that came against the backdrop of the Taliban’s takeover of the country last week is known as “Operation Devi Shakti”. This operation comes as MEA had urged all Indian nationals in Afghanistan requiring assistance to contact Special Afghanistan Cell immediately to move out of the war-torn country.

As many as 565 people, including 112 Afghan nationals, have been evacuated by India from Afghanistan since the Taliban seized control of the war-torn country, the MEA informed the floor leaders of political parties in Parliament on Thursday.

According to sources, the ministry shared details on the recent developments in Afghanistan with floor leaders of various political parties in Parliament. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefed the leaders. Among the 565 evacuees, 175 were embassy personnel, 263 other Indian nationals, 112 were Afghan nationals, including Hindus and Sikhs, and 15 were third-country nationals, sources said.

Afghanistan’s situation is worsening as people are in rush to leave the nation after the Taliban seized control last week. On August 15, the country’s government fell, soon after President Ashraf Ghani left the nation. (ANI)