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India evacuates dozens of diplomats, security staff from Kandahar consulate

About 50 Indian personnel, including some six diplomats, pulled from consulate, security sources say, as Taliban fighters clash with government troops in their former bastion in southern Afghanistan.

AFP

An Afghan security personnel stands guard at the site of a car bomb attack in Kandahar on July 6, 2021.

India has evacuated about 50 diplomats and security personnel from its consulate in Kandahar, the former Taliban bastion in southern Afghanistan, after days of intense fighting, officials and a security source said.

"The Consulate General of India has not been closed. However, due to the intense fighting near Kandahar city, India based personnel have been brought back for the time being," India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

"This is purely a temporary measure until the situation stabilises. The consulate continues to operate through our local staff members."

I wish India was sensible and had not used Afghanistan as terror launching pad against Pakistan. It should have also shown some maturity in addressing Kashmir dispute. Suffering from hubris, India is a factor of instability in the region. Quad is another example. https://t.co/4XXWjmgNpa
— Abdul Basit (@abasitpak1) July 11, 2021

A security source said about 50 Indian personnel, including some six diplomats, have been evacuated from the consulate.

It was still unclear whether they were brought to Kabul or evacuated to New Delhi.

The insurgents claimed this week that they now control 85 percent of Afghanistan, much of it seized since early May when US-led foreign forces began their final withdrawal from the country.

The Taliban also clashed with government forces this week on the edge of Kandahar city, the capital of Kandahar province, where the Taliban movement was born.

China evacuates 210 nationals

Last week Russia announced it had closed its consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

Earlier this month China also evacuated 210 nationals from the country.

The Taliban's rapid gains have seen their fighters capture key border crossings and even attack a provincial capital.

The US withdrawal is now more than 90 percent complete, the Pentagon announced this month, and President Joe Biden said Thursday the US military mission would end on August 31.