Outside the main iron gate of the Indian embassy in Kabul, a group of Taliban fighters waited -- armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

Inside the compound were 150 Indian diplomats and nationals -- growing increasingly nervous as they watched news of the Taliban tightening their grip on the capital, which they took a day earlier without a fight.

Their position was a precarious one.

Indian Nationals prepare to board an Indian military aircraft at the airport in Kabul
Indian Nationals prepare to board an Indian military aircraft at the airport in Kabul AFP / -

Pakistan has long been the Taliban's biggest supporter, using the country for so-called strategic depth in never-ending battles -- real and diplomatic -- with arch-rival India.

India in turn, strongly backed the government that took over when the Taliban were ousted, earning them hatred and enmity from the hardline Islamist group.

But the Taliban fighters outside the Indian embassy weren't there to extract revenge, but rather to escort them to Kabul airport, where a military aircraft was on standby to evacuate them after New Delhi decided to shut its mission.

As the first of nearly two dozen vehicles drove out of the embassy late on Monday, some of the fighters waved and smiled at the passengers -- an AFP correspondent among them.

The group finally arrived at Kabul airport after a snail-pace five-hour journey from the embassy, escorted by Taliban fighters
The group finally arrived at Kabul airport after a snail-pace five-hour journey from the embassy, escorted by Taliban fighters AFP / STR

One guided them towards the street leading out of the city's green zone and on the main road to the airport.

The embassy's decision to ask the Taliban to shepherd the Indians out was made when the fighters closed access to the once heavily fortified neighbourhood after capturing Kabul the previous day.

A quarter of the 200 or so people who had gathered at the foreign mission had already been flown out of Afghanistan before the country's new leaders took full control of the city.

IMAGES People board an Indian military flight from Afghanistan as evacuation flights from Kabul's airport restart after chaos the previous day in which huge crowds mobbed the tarmac following the Taliban's takeover of the country.
IMAGES People board an Indian military flight from Afghanistan as evacuation flights from Kabul's airport restart after chaos the previous day in which huge crowds mobbed the tarmac following the Taliban's takeover of the country. AFPTV / Jay DESHMUKH

"When we were evacuating the second group... we faced the Taliban, who refused to allow us to exit the green zone," said an official who left with Monday's group.

"We then decided to contact the Taliban and ask them to escort our convoy out."

Two separate pledges of an escort failed to materialise during the day, unnerving the large group bunkered down at the embassy, with one diplomat likening the experience to "house arrest".

It had been dark for several hours when the cars finally left the compound and embarked on the five-kilometre (three-mile) journey to the airport.

India, along with many other countries, has been evacuating its nationals following the Taliban takeover
India, along with many other countries, has been evacuating its nationals following the Taliban takeover AFP / STR

The snail-paced journey took five hours, with passengers passing each minute in constant fear of a potential attack.

Unfamiliar checkpoints had been set up and thousands of people displaced by the war were along the road.

At intervals, the Taliban fighters accompanying the Indian convoy jumped out of their own vehicles and aimed their guns at the crowds, forcing them to step back.

One man who appeared to be commanding the troops fired a few rounds in the air to scare back a large group gathered around one intersection.

The escort departed once the convoy reached the airport, where American soldiers had taken up positions and were coordinating flights.

After a wait of another two hours, the group boarded a C-17 Indian military transport plane that took off at dawn, landing at an air force base in the west Indian state of Gujarat later that morning.

"I'm so happy to be back," Shirin Pathare, an Air India employee flown out of Kabul, told AFP as he stepped off the aircraft. "India is paradise."

Another Indian citizen, cradling his two-year-old daughter, recalled the chaos and anxiety of his hasty departure from his office and the city.

"They were polite but when they went, they took two of our vehicles.

"I immediately knew it was time for me and my family to leave," he added.