Evacuation flight with 160 Indians diverted to Kuwait after Iranian strikes shut airspace

Jerusalem: An evacuation flight carrying 160 Indians who had crossed into Jordan from Israel on Sunday and departed from Amman on Monday afternoon was diverted to Kuwait after Iranian strikes on US bases in the region led to airspace closures.

Flight Number J91254, which took off from Amman around 2:30 pm on Monday to Kuwait and then to Delhi had to change direction mid-way and return to Kuwait following Iranian attacks in retaliation to the American bombing of its nuclear installations on June 22.

The Islamic Republic had threatened to retaliate in the wake of the American decision to join forces with Israel in attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities in Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan.

The evacuees have been put in a hall at the airport and await further instructions, Arvind Shukla, a post-doctoral fellow on the flight told PTI over the phone.

The Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi and the Embassy in Kuwait are keeping in touch with the authorities and closely monitoring the situation.  Despite being on the way since early Sunday, the evacuees, who were among the first batch under Operation Sindhu launched on June 19 to evacuate Indians in Israel, are maintaining calm and waiting for further instructions, Shukla said.