India’s midnight evacuation from Afghanistan, escorted by Taliban

Embassy decided to ask Taliban to shepherd Indians when group closed access to the once-heavily fortified neighbourhood.

Outside the main iron gate of the Indian embassy in Kabul, a group of Taliban fighters waited, armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Inside the compound were 150 Indian diplomats and nationals, growing increasingly nervous as they watched news of the Taliban tightening their grip on the capital, which they took a day earlier without a fight. Their position was a precarious one.