India evacuates 104 Afghan refugees in a special flight

The special flight was arranged under India's operation Devi Shakti.

New Delhi: India on Friday (December 10) evacuated 104 people, including 10 Indian nationals, from Kabul in a special charter aircraft.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the flight was arranged under India's operation Devi Shakti.

The operation was launched to evacuate Indians from Afghanistan after it fell to the Taliban on August 15.

"Under Operation Devi Shakti, a special Kam Air flight arranged by India has arrived in New Delhi from Kabul," Bagchi tweeted.

"It has brought 10 Indians and 94 Afghans including members of the Afghan Hindu-Sikh minority community. Among the evacuees are 9 children, including 3 infants," he said.

The flight is likely to fly back over 90 Afghan nationals stranded in India along with some medical supplies, officials said.

The flight also brought two copies of the Guru Granth Sahib and Hindu religious texts from an ancient temple in Kabul.

In a tweet, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said he was "deeply blessed" to join BJP president J P Nadda, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta and others "in paying obeisance to the two holy Saroops of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji on their arrival from Kabul with members of the Sikh Sangat & Hindu community."

"Copies of Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta, Sri Ramcharit Manas & other Hindu holy scriptures & rare manuscripts from Asamaya Mandir in Kabul were also brought back by members of the Sikh Sangat & Hindu devotees on a special flight today," the minister said.

It is learnt that both the Indian government and the Afghan embassy in Delhi coordinated to arrange for the flight.