Embassy decided to ask Taliban to shepherd Indians when its fighters 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.
Pakistan has long been the Taliban’s biggest supporter, using the country for so-called “strategic depth” in never-ending battles – real and diplomatic – with archrival India.
India, in turn, strongly backed the government that took over when the Taliban was removed, earning them hatred and enmity from the hardline group.
But the Taliban fighters outside the Indian embassy were not there to extact revenge but rather to escort them to Kabul airport, where a military aircraft was on standby to evacuate them after New Delhi decided to shut its mission.
As the first of nearly two dozen vehicles drove out of the embassy late on Monday, some of the fighters waved and smiled at the passengers, an AFP news agency correspondent among them.
One guided them towards the street leading out of the city’s green zone and on the main road to the airport.
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