Many Indians among 150 people captured by Taliban outside Kabul airport

Taliban fighters have captured around 150 people, many of whom are believed to be Indian citizens, from outside Kabul airport.

The local media has reported this latest development from Afghanistan, which has rapidly descended into chaos, after the Taliban assumed power in Kabul earlier this week. Ahmadullah Waseq, one of the spokespersons of the Taliban, has however denied rounding up people from outside the airport, which included a large number of Indians, said an India Today report.

A NDTV report meanwhile said that the Foreign Ministry has not confirmed the abduction of Indian citizens from the gates of Kabul airport as of now.

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The India Today report quoting a source said that Taliban affiliates had taken more than 150 people, most of them Indian nationals, from near Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. The source added that these people included a number of Afghan citizens and Afghan Sikhs, but most of them were ordinary Indian citizens.

The source along with his wife, however, managed to escape. This group of Indian citizens had reached the airport at 1 am but could not enter the airport due to some lack of coordination.

At that point, several unarmed Taliban members appeared and beat them, and took them all to Tarkhil in Kabul. The source added that he and his wife threw themselves out of the car on the way and managed to escape, added the India Today report. Only few managed to escape and they were unsure about the fate of the others.

A few hours back the Indian Air Force C-130J transport aircraft had managed to evacuate around 85 Indians from Kabul. Quoting sources, media reports said that the plane had safely landed in Dushanbe in Tajikistan, adding that a second (larger C-17) aircraft was waiting at the airport to fly out more Indian citizens from Afghanistan.