India shuts last consulate in Afghanistan and evacuates citizens

FILE PHOTO: Afghan policemen stand guard next to Indian and Afghan national flags, at a check point in Kabul city May 12, 2011. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani/File Photo

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India sent a military plane to northern Afghanistan on Tuesday to pull out its citizens, officials said, as fighting raged between Afghan security forces and the advancing Taliban.

The Indian government shut its consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, the biggest city in the north, and urged its diplomats and Indian citizens to take the special flight home.