150 people, mostly Indians, questioned by Taliban; reach airport for evacuation

Around 150 Indian citizens, who were allegedly detained by Taliban this morning, have been released. 

They are now at Kabul airport, NDTV reports, quoting sources, saying they will be airlifted out of Afghanistan soon. 

NDTV had earlier reported that the Taliban had allegedly abducted around 15o people, including mostly Indians, from the gate of Kabul airport.

Sources this morning had said that the government is trying to bring as many Indians as possible into the airport at Kabul to keep them safe while it works out the evacuation logistics.

India has evacuated all embassy staff but an estimated 1,000 citizens remain in several cities in the war-torn country, and ascertaining their location and condition is proving to be a challenge, a Home Ministry official had said, since not all of them registered themselves with the embassy.

Among those are around 200 Sikhs and Hindus who have taken refuge at a gurudwara in Kabul.

Late Wednesday a spokesperson for the Taliban - which seemed to be trying to project a more moderate image - released a video of the gurudwara head saying he had been assured of safety.

The Taliban took effective control of Afghanistan on Sunday, after President Ashraf Ghani fled and the group walked into capital Kabul with no opposition. This was after a staggeringly fast rout of major cities following two decades of war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

Feared for its brutal and oppressive reign two decades ago, the group has tried to present a more moderate by claiming, for instance, that women will have rights, including to education and work, and that the media will be independent and free.