Ullal man in Afghanistan airlifted; his brother still stranded

Ullal: Melvin, a resident of Uli near here, was airlifted by the Indian Air Force from Kabul and returned safely to his home on Wednesday.

He worked in the electrical maintenance department at a hospital in NATO’s military base in Kabul.

Melvin’s brother is still in Afghanistan and is hoping for a flight to return to India.

“As Kabul was captured by the Taliban, the evacuation of foreigners at the military base camp began. Suddenly, as local Afghan residents arrived at the airport to escape the country, planes scheduled to land in Kabul were forced to return as there were too many people on the runway. A total of 160 people, including 7 people working for our firm, were brought from Kabul to the Air Force base in Jamnagar, Gujarat at 5 am on Tuesday, from there I arrived home in Ullal today via Bengaluru,” Melvin said.

Melvin said that the company had shifted people from different parts of India, including Mangaluru, who worked for them, to Norway, London and Qatar, where they are kept in quarantine and then will be sent to India.

Melvin’s brother Demsi, an AC mechanic working at a military base in Kabul, has been waiting for a flight at the airport terminal for the past two days.

Melvin says he is only sending messages now as there is no Internet available.

“The military base in Kabul is safe until August 31. Until then there is little chance of Taliban taking over the base. Foreigners are hoping to be rescued from their country before the August 31 deadline. There is a possibility of food shortage at the base in two days,” said Melvin.

“Afghan locals working in a military base are trying to escape before they are targeted by the Taliban,” Melvin added.