India Evacuates Nationals From Afghanistan's Mazar-I-Sharif

By Shakir Husain NEW DELHI, Aug 11 (Bernama) -- India is evacuating its diplomats and other nationals from Mazar-i-Sharif, the largest city in Afghanistan's north, amid an escalation in fighting between the Taliban and Afghan forces in the region. The Indian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif requested all Indians in and around the city to leave on a New Delhi-bound flight on Tuesday evening. "It is learnt that a special aircraft of the Indian Air Force will evacuate the (Indian consulate) staff as well as the Indian citizens from the fourth-largest city of Afghanistan," news agency PTI reported. The evacuation comes as several cities in the region have been captured by Taliban insurgents. India last month pulled out dozens of diplomats and security personnel from its consulate in the southern city of Kandahar. -- BERNAMA