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Taliban ransacks two Indian consulates in Afghanistan, takes away cars

| Updated: August 20, 2021 21:33:28


Afghan policemen standing guard next to Indian and Afghan national flags, at a check point in Kabul city on May 12 this year -Reuters file photo Afghan policemen standing guard next to Indian and Afghan national flags, at a check point in Kabul city on May 12 this year -Reuters file photo

The Taliban has ransacked at least two of India's consulates and took away parked cars in Afghanistan on Wednesday, acting against the assurances given by its leaders to the world.

They ransacked the Indian consulates in Kandahar and Herat, which are closed, reports NDTV citing Indian government sources.

"We expected this. They ransacked the place searched documents and also took away our parked vehicles from both embassies," a senior officer said.

Days before the raid, the Taliban had reached out to Delhi, saying that did not want India to evacuate diplomats from its Kabul embassy. Sources say the government had received messages from the group's Qatar office assuring them of the safety of Indian staff and security personnel.

The messages - sent from the office of Abbas Stanikzai, the chief of the Taliban's political unit - were routed via contacts in Kabul and Delhi.

Earlier this week, India carried out a difficult evacuation of its embassy staff in two Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft that flew out of Kabul. India's ambassador to Afghanistan was also brought back as diplomats and civilians scrambled to get out of the country after the Taliban's takeover. But over 1,000 Indian nationals are still stuck across Afghanistan.

After its breakneck takeover of the Afghan capital, the Taliban has been carrying out door-to-door searches in Kabul to identify Afghans who worked for the National Directorate of Security, the state-run intelligence agency.

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