36-Hour Detention, Taliban Escort To Airport For Indian Mission Staff

The Taliban had stopped a convoy of Indian embassy staff, including the ambassador, on Monday.

After holding Indian diplomats hostage for more than 36 hours, the Taliban escorted them to the airport on Tuesday morning but only after foreign agencies intervened and requested the terrorist group to provide safe passage for staffers of the Indian mission. "The initial plan was to evacuate everyone together. On August 16 (Monday), a convoy carrying 45 Indians managed to reach the airport but the other two convoys were asked to go back by Taliban," a senior functionary in the government told NDTV. According to him, the second convoy which included Indian diplomats had about 80 Indians which was made to turn back. "The curfew imposed was only for Indians. Movement of nationals of other countries was not restricted," he said. The government of India was already on backchannel talks with many foreign agencies including Russians. Finally, they managed to convince them to persuade the Taliban to let the Indian mission staff go to the airport, he said.