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Indians captured by Taliban near Kabul airport 'safe': ReportNew Delhi is trying to ascertain the veracity of the report
DH Web Desk
Last Updated IST
A Taliban fighter holding an M16 assault rifle stands outside the Interior Ministry in Kabul. Credit: Reuters File Photo
A Taliban fighter holding an M16 assault rifle stands outside the Interior Ministry in Kabul. Credit: Reuters File Photo

All Indians who were abducted by the Taliban from an area close to Hamid Karzai International Airport on Saturday morning are safe, according to a local media report.

The Taliban abducted over 150 people, mostly Indian citizens, while they were on their way to the Kabul airport for evacuation on Saturday morning, the local media Etilaatroz reported.

"All #Indians are safe. and the people who took them collecting their passports and checking them and investigating. a source told @Etilaatroz abductors told them that all will move back to the #kabulairport. now they are in a garage close to the #kabulairport," a reporter of a local media Etilaatroz tweeted.

Earlier, a source, who managed to escape along with his wife and some others, told Etilaatroz that the abductees include some Afghan citizens and Afghan Sikhs as well but most of them are Indian citizens.

New Delhi is trying to ascertain the veracity of the report.

The source added that the Taliban officials "approached them" while they were heading to the Kabul airport in minivans for evacuation at around 1 am. When they couldn’t enter the airport for lack of cooperation, the Taliban "took them all to Tarakhil, an eastern neighborhood in the capital Kabul, after beating them physically."

According to the report, the source, his wife, and few others managed to escape by jumping outside from windows of the minivans. “The Taliban told the passengers that they would take them into the airport from a different gate but their whereabouts is not yet clear,” the source said.

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(Published 21 August 2021, 12:42 IST)