India evacuates 75 citizens from Syria as rebels capture power

India on Wednesday evacuated 75 of its citizens from Syria, including 44 pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir, amid unrest in the West Asian country after the toppling of former President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said the Indian nationals had safely crossed over into Lebanon and would return to India by commercial flights.

The evacuation was coordinated by India’s embassies in Damascus and Beirut after an “assessment of the security situation and requests from Indian nationals in Syria,” the statement read, adding the Centre “accords the highest priority to the safety and security of Indian nationals abroad”.

Indian nationals remaining in Syria were urged to contact the embassy in Damascus through an emergency helpline number and email address.

“The Government will continue to monitor the situation closely,” the ministry said.

On Sunday, armed rebel forces led by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, entered Syria’s capital city of Damascus unopposed and toppled Assad’s government, bringing an end to his family’s 50-year reign in the country.

Assad fled to Russia with his family, where they were granted asylum by Moscow on humanitarian grounds.

Russia, along with Iran, had backed the Assad regime through more than 13 years of unrest in the country. The collapse of the...

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