New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has kept a C-17 transport aircraft on standby to fly to Kabul and bring home Indians stuck in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.
According to government sources, the IAF aircraft will go to Kabul as soon as enough Indian nationals are able to move to the airport in the Afghan capital.
The government is hopeful that up to 250 Indians can be evacuated in the C-17 aircraft. However, it depends on how many of them are able to reach the airport because the Taliban is controlling movement in the city.
The sources said New Delhi is working closely with the US government to facilitate the movement of the IAF transport aircraft to Kabul.
The government is banking on IAF aircraft for evacuation missions because operating Air India flights to Kabul under the current situation has proved difficult, the sources said.
Over 400 Indians may need to be evacuated, but the exact figure is unclear at the moment, they added.
Earlier on August 15, two IAF C-17s had flown into Kabul to evacuate Indian embassy staffers, including Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel tasked with guarding them.
