August 16: The Government of Nepal has started homework to evacuate Nepali nationals from war-ravaged Afghanistan following the rapid advance of Taliban to capture the capital. The government has formed a coordination committee to rescue of Nepali citizens currently living in Afghanistan.

Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bharat Raj Paudyal informed that the government has formed a committee under the coordination of Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Harish Chandra Ghimire to rescue the Nepali citizens in trouble in the conflict-hit country.

Speaking at meeting of the International Relations Committee under the House of Representatives, he said the newly formed committee includes joint secretaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health, Nepal Police and CCMC as its members.

Secretary Paudyal said that there are about 1,500 Nepalis working in the formal sector in Afghanistan. He added that the government has received reports that Nepali citizens were within Kabul, the Afghan capital. According to him, those Nepali citizens working in the formal sector in Afghanistan are likely to return to Nepal on the initiative of their organization itself.

He said the government was in touch with the embassy and missions in Afghanistan. Secretary Paudyal said that the ministry would issue information to Nepali citizens living in Afghanistan to get in touch, create an online portal to inform them about their situation from anywhere and operate one or two phones at the Consular Services Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through WhatsApp and Viber.

The Taliban have taken control of most of Afghanistan's major cities, including the cacpital. As of Sunday, the Taliban had entered the capital, Kabul, according to the Associated Press (AP).

They had already captured other major cities. As tensions rise, many countries have stepped up their rescue efforts. While the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, India and other countries are returning their citizens by special planes, Nepal is also under pressure to rescue its citizens.

At the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Sunday, Congress MP Dibya Mani Rajbhandari requested for immediate and effective steps for rescue. He suggested holding talks with the rebel Taliban government to save the lives of Nepali citizens.

"For the safety of the civilians who have reached there, should we hold talks with the Taliban along with the rescue efforts?" said Rajbhandari.

 UML MP Bhim Rawal suggested calling on Nepali citizens to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible. “Let's tell Nepali citizens to leave Afghanistan soon. Other countries have already issued such calls,” Rawal said, adding, “Let us take the initiative to rescue them ourselves. Let's not depend on other countries. Let's bring our citizens.”

Meanwhile, the International Relations Committee of Lower House has directed the government to immediately rescue Nepali Citizens from Afghanistan. Chairperson of the committee, Pabitra Niraula Kharel instructed the government to send aircraft to bring back its citizens if possible or transfer citizens to other safe countries if immediate rescue is not possible.

Chairperson Kharel said, "It can be done by bringing citizens to Nepal or to other nearby countries like Pakistan. However, we should intensify the work of making Nepalese in Afghanistan safe."

Meanwhile, the government has issued a notice to Nepali citizens living in Afghanistan to get in touch with the government. Online registration has also been opened to collect the details of Nepali citizens trapped there.