Mission Evacuation!

Many Indians in Afghanistan went to bed on the eve of India’s 75th Independence Day, looking forward to celebrating and hoisting the tricolour the next morning.

However, an early morning phone call from Delhi on August 15 changed everything. “The Afghan government collapsed; the Taliban has entered the country. Indian diplomats and civilians have to be evacuated immediately.” was the gist of the telephone message.

The evacuation mission got underway immediately, involving over 90 Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) commandos, including six from the Telugu-speaking States. Multiple flights between India and Afghanistan were operated.

The six commandos from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana —  Perrala Haji Vali, Nakka Manmadha Rao, Pulari Rajasekhar, Kasi Ramana Reddy, Bodda Vinod, and Ambadi Suresh — were on deputation to the four Indian embassies in Afghanistan since August 2019. They braved all odds and safely evacuated Indians from Afghanistan.

Fear and chaos

Recalling those horrific days, Perrala Haji Vali, who hails from Kondapuram village in YSR district (formerly Kadapa) in AP, says thousands of people fleeing Afghanistan thronged various airports, resulting in utter chaos and heart-wrenching scenes.

“Around two weeks ago, we actually had information that the Taliban would soon enter Afghanistan, but we were stunned that they stormed in so quickly,” says Haji. Both Indian diplomats and civilians, were evacuated in the operation that was carried out in ‘extremely dangerous’ conditions. “Our immediate target was to protect the diplomats and civilians and take them to a green zone,” Haji says, adding that they sent a message to all the Indians to come to the Embassy or to the airbase, bringing their passports.

The plan was to take the evacuees to Kandahar airport, and airlift them to India, but when it was learnt that the Taliban had already captured the Kandahar airstrip the evacuation started from the Afghan military airbase 7 km away from the airport.

All the diplomats wore bulletproof jackets and around 18 bulletproof vehicles were arranged to move people to the airbase. But the Taliban had blocked ‘almost all roads and set up checkpoints through most of the town. “So we transported people in local civil vehicles (instead of the diplomat convoy) so that the Taliban wouldn’t stop us,” Haji recalls, adding that they strategically used routes in which the Taliban was not present in large numbers.

However, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast set up by the Taliban in a parking area in the Governor's compound in Kandahar city took the lives of the secretary of Kandahar’s governor and a security guard. With fear running high, all the vehicles returned to the Embassy.

“We got the news that the Taliban had freed around 180 of its members from a jail blast, and this sent the fear levels even higher,” he recalled. Mission evacuation was resumed around 2:30 AM. This time, the people were transported via an underground route up to 500 meters from the Embassy, and from there, they boarded vehicles. The commandos took the help of local drivers and found new routes without Taliban presence to get to the airbase. “The Kandahar airbase was 35 km from the embassy, but it took around four hours for us to reach there because we were proceeding with extreme caution,” Haji shares, adding that throughout the journey they heard screams and sounds of gunfire and saw people running for cover.

“There was no food or water available for 24 hours until we reached the airbase,” he adds. Only after they boarded the plane and the doors were shut did the people believe they were finally safe.

Planning and prep were key

Commando Nakka Manmadha Rao from Gollavooru village, Nandigam Mandal of Srikakulam district (Andhra Pradesh), who was part of the evacuation operation from Kabul, found the whole exercise a challenge.

“There were more than 200 people at the Kabul Embassy, so our immediate job was to evacuate them safely to Kabul Airport,” shares Manmadha Rao.

Preparing a detailed road map avoiding the Taliban presence was critical, he notes. “The evacuation was a difficult and complicated exercise, more so because the Taliban forces were exercising increasingly strict control on all roads,” he says.

While the distance between Embassy and the airport was around 6 km, it took around four hours for them to reach there in civilian vehicles. “We experienced two blasts on the way, which further panicked the people. But throughout our operation we kept telling people that we would take care of them,” he says, though he admits that the commandos too were a bit nervous about the danger to their lives.

The commandos were armed with AK series assault weapons, bullet-proof jackets, helmets, knee pads and communication gadgets. “The evacuation operation started late in the morning of August 15 and involved 20 bulletproof vehicles. We eventually reached Kabul airport by afternoon, and the first batch boarded the flight to India,” he recounts.

By the time the evacuation of the second batch started in the evening, the situation had worsened. People had to wait at the Kabul airport overnight because there were no flights operating. “The next morning (August 16), we were able to evacuate another batch to India,” he says. But by that afternoon, the Taliban had taken control of Kabul airport too.

“While people were scrambling to flee the country, gun-toting Taliban had set up checkpoints and were patrolling the roads,” Manmadha Rao recalls. According to him, “Proper planning was the key to the success of the evacuation operation. He says the commandos were given special training in VIP protection, combat tactics, weapons firing, and handling the Taliban before being posted in Afghanistan in 2019.

Even before the present crisis, life in Afghanistan was horrible for the last two years, according to Manmadha Rao. He says around five blasts were triggered by the Taliban around the Indian embassy every week. ‘Afghans love Indians, but the Taliban treat people terribly.” he says.

All the ITBP commandos are back in Delhi now, along with Embassy staff and other Indian nationals) and are currently undergoing a week-long COVID-19 quarantine at the ITBP facility in Delhi. However, “We have been asked to be prepared for any exigency,” says Manmadha Rao.