A day after the Taliban announced it was moving to take Mazar-e-Sharif in north Afghanistan, India's diplomatic mission in the city has asked Indian citizens to leave.
Mazar-e-Sharif is the largest city in the north of Afghanistan. Its fall would denote the complete collapse of the Afghan government in the north of the country, which had traditionally been anti-Taliban.
According to reports, residents of Mazar-e-Sharif had said clashes were happening in surrounding districts.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Indian consulate general in Mazar-e-Sharif informed on Twitter, "A special flight is leaving from Mazar-e-Sharif to New Delhi. Any Indian nationals in and around Mazar-e-Sharif are requested to leave for India in the special flight scheduled to depart late today evening."
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The consulate called on Indian citizens to inform their details and passport particulars. "Indian citizens desiring to leave by special flight should immediately convey their full name, passport number, date of expiry by WhatsApp at the following numbers: 0785891303/0785891301,” the consulate tweeted.
The Taliban had announced on Monday that it had launched a four-pronged attack on Mazar-e-Sharif after capturing Sheberghan to the west and Kunduz and Taloqan to the east.