Nearly 50 Indian diplomats, security personnel, and other staff members have been evacuated from the Kandahar consulate in Afghanistan by India as the Taliban claims control of new areas in the nation, PTI reported quoting sources on Sunday. 

According to PTI, India sent a special Indian Air Force flight on Saturday to bring back the Indian diplomats, officials, and other staff members to New Delhi. The officials include a group of Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel, PTI said.

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This comes after Taliban fighters have rapidly seized control of a number of key areas in the region, following withdrawal of US troops. 

The Indian embassy in Kabul had on Tuesday said there was no plan to close the embassy and the consulates in Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif.  “Our response will be calibrated accordingly,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing on Thursday.

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Afghanistan is witnessing a series of terror attacks as the US has started withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan and it will be completed in August-end. It will end a nearly two-decade of its military presence in the war-ravaged country.

There were reports that at least two foreign missions in Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of northern Balkh province, have closed their operation in view of escalating violence in the region.

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The Indian embassy last week asked all Indians visiting, staying and working in Afghanistan to exercise the utmost caution with regard to their security and avoid all types of non-essential travel in view of rising incidents of violence in various parts of the country.

In an advisory, the embassy said the security situation in Afghanistan remains “dangerous” and that terror groups have carried out a series of complex attacks including targeting civilians, adding Indian nationals additionally face a “serious threat” of kidnapping.

India has been a major stakeholder in the peace and stability of Afghanistan. It has already invested nearly USD three billion in aid and reconstruction activities in the country.

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India has been supporting a national peace and reconciliation process which is Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled.

In March, Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar visited India during which Jaishankar conveyed to him India’s long-term commitment towards a peaceful, sovereign and stable Afghanistan.