Over 150, Mostly Indians Citizens Abducted By Taliban Near Kabul Airport
(This was originally posted in Kabul Now by Nasrullah Mohseni
UPDATE: ALL INDIANS ARE SAFE AND ARE ENROUTE TO KABUL AIRPORT THEY ALL WILL SOON BE EVACUATED.
Men affiliated with the Taliban have abducted over 150 people, mostly Indian citizens, from an area close to Hamid Karzai International Airport earlier this morning, Saturday, August 21, a reliable source confirmed to Kabul Now.
The source, who managed to escape along with his wife and some others, added that the abductees include some Afghan citizens and Afghan Sikhs as well but most of them are Indian citizens.
Multiple Afghan journalists claim that over 100-150 Indians have been kidnapped by the Taliban from outside the Kabul airport. No official confirmation yet from Indian Government or US/NATO forces on ground. Indian Govt is monitoring closely.
This is a DEVELOPING STORY. pic.twitter.com/OFBeIiu4Hy— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) August 21, 2021
He added that they were all boarded on eight minivan vehicles around 01:00 AM, this morning, heading to the Kabul airport for evacuation but they couldn’t enter the airport for lack of cooperation. According to the source, a group of “the Taliban who were not armed approached them and then took them all to Tarakhil, an eastern neighborhood in the capital Kabul, after beating them physically.” The source added that he, his wife, and few others could manage to escape by throwing themselves down 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. A Taliban spokesman rejected the allegations regarding abduction of more than 150 people, mostly Indian citizens, near Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. He told Kabul Now that the Taliban are present around the airport and do not let people to enter it.
The Taliban have transferred the abductees to the compound of Alkozay Group of Companies, which is located in an area close to the airport, and have collected their passports, a reliable source told Kabul Now. The Taliban are now interrogating these people and assured them that they will be transferred back to the Kabul airport once the interrogation is over, the source detailed. Two sources confirmed to Kabul Now that the Taliban have released all the abductees and they are now on their way back to the Kabul international airport.
