India requested its citizens to leave Afghanistan on a special flight from Mazar-e-Sharif

India requested its citizens to leave Afghanistan on a ‘special flight’ from Mazar-e-Sharif

India has requested its citizens in and around Mazar-e-Sharif to board a special flight leaving for New Delhi on Tuesday evening as the Taliban is rapidly moving to seize the fourth largest city in Afghanistan. The Consulate General of India in Mazar-e-Sharif said Indian nationals who want to leave for New Delhi should immediately convey their name, passport number and other details through WhatsApp on two phone numbers.

“A special flight is leaving from Mazar-e-Sharif to New Delhi. Any Indian nationals in and around Mazar-e-Sharif are requested to leave for India in the special flight scheduled to depart late today evening,” the official Twitter handle for Consulate General of India, Mazar-e-Sharif posted.

Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, is the largest city in the north and is considered to be an area controlled by the government. It is the fourth-largest city in the landlocked country. The city also serves as one of the many tourist attractions.

Since the announcement of the withdrawal of US forces by August 31, violence has been rising in Afghanistan and efforts to broker a peace settlement between the Afghan government and insurgent Taliban have slowed. With Taliban attacks increasing, Afghan security forces and government troops have retaliated with airstrikes aided by the United States.

Earlier on Monday, the Taliban said that they had turned their sights on Mazar-e-Sharif by launching a four-pronged attack on the city. They have already captured Sheberghan to its west and Kunduz and Taloqan in the east.

Afghanistan’s long-running conflict has escalated dramatically since May, when the US-led military coalition began the pullout of its forces, the exercise is set to be completed before the end of the month.

As the Taliban have taken control of several districts across the country, US intelligence assessments have suggested the country’s civilian government could fall to the terror group within months of US forces withdrawing.

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