New Delhi: The Indian government on Tuesday evacuated 75 citizens from the war-hit region of Syria via Lebanon from where they will return to India via commercial flights, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement late night. The statement said, “Those evacuated include 44 ‘Jaireen’ from Jammu and Kashmir, who were stranded in Saida Zainab. “All Indian nationals have reached Lebanon safely and will return to India through available commercial flights.” The statement further said: “This evacuation, which was coordinated by the Indian embassies in Damascus and Beirut, was implemented after assessing the security situation and following requests from Indian nationals stranded in Syria.” Last week, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said that about 90 Indian citizens were living in the West Asian country. On December 6, the Indian government issued an advisory, urging citizens not to “avoid” travel to the West Asian country. By Sunday, the previous regime in Syria led by Bashar al-Assad had fallen as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group led by UN-banned terrorist Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, was making rapid advances. The group was formed in 2017 after the merger of Al-Nusra Front and another organization banned by the United Nations. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s advance towards Damascus began in late November, when it captured Aleppo, one of the largest cities of the civil war. This organization attacked and destroyed cities one after another, while Assad’s forces collapsed across the country. In less than two weeks, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, starting with a small area in northern Syria, took over the entire country. Assad and his family have fled from Syria to Russia. The Ministry of External Affairs had also said last week that apart from about 90 Indian nationals, several Indians were working with UN aid agencies in Syria. In the last few days, the Indian Embassy in Damascus remained open and continuing its activities. (Click here to read this report in English.) Also read: India needs a full-time Home Minister, please do not make a puppet BJP president now
