More than 100 Afghan nationals fly to Kabul from India via Iran on free will

While hundreds of Afghans wait for an opportunity to flee their home country as soon as possible, more than 100 Afghans decided to return to the Taliban-controlled country.

A total of 106 Afghan nationals who were stranded in India since Taliban took over Afghanistan decided to return to their home country on their free will.

"These Afghan nationals were in a very difficult situation as their finances had run out, and did not even have enough money to pay for their fooding and lodging," an Afghan diplomat told The Sunday Express.

While some of these people were facing financial problems in India, a lot of them were worried about their remaining family members and relatives who are still in Afghanistan.

"They were stuck between a rock and a hard place," the Afghan diplomat said.

A group of Afghan locals stranded in India reached out to the Afghan embassy in the last few weeks and expressed their wish to return to their home country. The embassy reached out to the Iran’s embassy in India.

Officials were able to schedule a special flight in Iranian airline company Mahan Air.

This flight first flew from India to Tehran, from where they were then rooted towards Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan.

"The Afghan nationals had to pay for the flight, but they went back via Tehran," the diplomat said. "There are about 1,000 people estimated to be in India who may want to return to Afghanistan. We are trying to facilitate as much as possible."

Authorities are hoping that they will be able to arrange similar flights for the remaining Afghan nations in India in the coming few weeks.

Meanwhile, the new Taliban government in Afghanistan has reached out to India to resume flights between the two countries, but the Indian authorities have not yet taken a decision.