ITBP commandos, who evacuated Indian embassy staff and civilians from Afghanistan, have said the situation in the nation captured by the Taliban was very dangerous and there were threats of attack on the convoys, the Embassy premises or Indian diplomats. However, the ITBP managed to bring them to the airport safely.
“We got inputs from intelligence that the situation is gripping every minute. We were waiting at the Indian embassy in Kabul for official documentation to conclude. We were responsible to guard the staff, even a minute mistake would have caused a huge loss. But we ensured all of our staff fly back home safely,” said a commando who came back to India from war-hit Afghanistan.
A contingent of 99 Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) commandos along with 30 diplomats, 21 civilians and three sniffer dogs had returned to the Hindon IAF base in Ghaziabad on August 17 onboard a military evacuation flight from Kabul. The C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) that took off from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul also brought back their weapons and belongings, which included along their personal AK series assault weapons, bulletproof jackets, helmets, communication gadgets, ammunition.
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Dastagir Mulla, Manjunath Maali from Bagalkote and Ravi Neelagar from Gadag from Karnataka, commandos of the ITBP, working in Kabul since 2019, flew back to India with the embassy staff last week. These brave hearts have shared the horror scenes they witnessed in Kabul and what it felt like being a part of it with News18.
“Afghanistan was not so dangerous a place to live or survive. People of Afghanistan are friendly, respect Indians a lot. We never thought we will have to see such horrors and death threats in our Embassy,” Dastagir Mulla starts recalling the last few days of his and his fellow commandos situation in Afghanistan.
He further added that August 13 was a nighare for all the Indians staying in Afghanistan and to ITPB commandos it was like the earth had turned into hell as they bore the responsibility of the lives of all the Indian staff.
“There was chaos all around the Kabul. We were ordered to guard our staff to Kabul International Airport. From our embassy, the airport is just 7 kilometre away. But do you imagine how long it took us to take our staff safely to airport? Almost 5 long hours. We had to evade the Taliban militant attacks, sometimes counter it and amid the citizens of Afghanistan who were rushing to airport to leave their country to save their lives,” Mulla explained how difficult the situation was.
But Mulla, a soldier who saved many Indians in Afghanistan, refused to reveal absolute operational details citing protocols and confidentiality to be maintained as a defence staff.
“We could hear fire sound, rocket launchers echo on our way to airport. Our only focus was to get our staff safely to airport and from there to our homeland. There was no hope for our lives, our only intension was to save the embassy staff at any cost,” Mulla added.
All the Indian diplomats and security personnel flown back from Kabul to Gujarat and to Delhi by road are under quarantine currently.
Another hero, ITBP commando Manjunath Maali told News18 how he had to console his wife who is 8 months pregnant. When the situation began to get grim, families of those who wer posted in Kabul started worrying. “My wife called me to know whether I am safe or not. Yes, I was not. But she is carrying our baby and I must not terrify her. I said its a routine situation in Kabul, just getting media hype. That was the only way I could console her and make her strong,” Maali added.
Dinesh Rai (53) and Jagadeesh Pujari (52), who were working with a private firm in Kabul and reached India on Sunday, also shared their experience. They were airlifted to Quatar and then to India.
Jagadeesh Pujari is a mechanic working for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) for the past 10 years. Speaking to News18, Pujari said that he had never imagined a situation like this during his decade-long stay in Afghansitan.
“We were secured by US Marines, but we didn’t have guarantee because of the chaos happening around us. I was just praying to return back to India and meet my family,” Pujari said.
Dinesh Rai said the US marines were our only hope and they helped us. “We are safe and breathing today because of them,” said Rai.
Jagadeesh and Dinesh were airlifted to Qatar on August 16 and reached Delhi on Monday. Both of them travelled back to their homes on Monday night. As on Monday, 10 persons from Karnataka were identified to be in Kabul while one of them chose to move to Italy while others have been brought to India safely.
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