An aircraft dispatched from the Ukraine to evacuate Ukrainian nationals stuck in Afghanistan was hijacked Tuesday and flown to Iran, Russian media outlets have reported, citing senior Ukrainian officials.
According to the TASS news outlet, armed hijackers seized the plane in Kabul Tuesday and flew to Iran, bringing with them an “unidentified group of passengers”, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Yenin said.
“Last Sunday, our plane was hijacked by other people. On Tuesday, the plane was practically stolen from us, it flew into Iran with an unidentified group of passengers onboard instead of airlifting Ukrainians.”
Yenin said multiple attempts by the Ukrainian government to evacuate its citizens from the country following the fall of Kabul to Taliban insurgents had been foiled.
“Our next three evacuation attempts were also not successful because our people could not get into the airport.”
Some 100 Ukrainians are reportedly stranded in Afghanistan.
No details on either the passengers or the hijackers have been released.
Yenin declined to say whether Ukraine would attempt to retrieve the hijacked plane.