Nepal calls for evacuation of at least 1,500 Nepalis in Afghanistan

KATHMANDU - Nepal's government on Sunday called for the evacuation of an estimated 1,500 Nepalis working as security staff with embassies and with international aid groups in Afghanistan.

"We have formally written to embassies requesting them for the evacuation," Nepal Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sewa Lamsal told Reuters in Kathmandu.

Lamsal said the government has also set up a panel to determine the exact number of Nepalis working in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan.

"The government will make arrangements for their evacuation also," she said.

Nepal does not have a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan but thousands of Nepali men work as security guards in diplomatic districts of the country.