Afghan Special Cell received 2000 calls, 6000 queries in 5 days, informs MEA

New Delhi: The Afghan Special Cell established by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) received more than 2000 calls in five days, answered around 6000 queries over WhatsApp while more than 1200 mails were replied, sources said on Sunday.

The MEA has set up a special Afghanistan cell to coordinate repatriation and other requests from the war-ravaged country, where the security situation deteriorated after Kabul fell to the Taliban.

The Afghan special cell established by MEA received more than 2000 calls for 5 days, it answered around 6000 queries over WhatsApp. More than 1200 mails were replied to for 5 days: Sources#Afghanistan — ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2021

India on Sunday evacuated 168 passengers including 107 Indian nationals via Indian Air Force's C-17 aircraft that landed at the Hindon IAF base in Ghaziabad. 

According to the MEA estimates, around 400 Indians are stranded in Afghanistan. India has been allowed to operate two flights per day from Kabul to evacuate its nationals stranded in Afghanistan, government sources said.

The permission was granted by American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces which have been controlling operations of the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban on August 15. 

In a lightning sweep across the war-ravaged country, the Taliban took over the presidential palace in Afghanistan on Sunday, 15 August, ousting the US-backed Ashraf Ghani government.

People in Afghanistan have been rushing to leave the country after the Taliban seized control last week. Several countries have been urgently evacuating their citizens from the war-torn nation. 

The Kabul airport has been witnessing a chaotic situation due to a growing rush among the locals to flee the country fearing the return of the barbaric Taliban regime. 

The MEA has said the Narendra Modi government is committed to the safe return of all Indian nationals from Afghanistan. The MEA said that the main challenge for travel to and from Afghanistan is the operational status of the Kabul airport.