Air India has in the past one week evacuated over 1,400 persons of Indian and Nepalese origin from Lernaca in Lebanon, the airline has said in a statement.

'While the first flight, which landed in Chennai at 1.30 am on Tuesday, carried 423 Indian nationals, the other flight which first landed in Delhi at 3.15 am [on Wednesday] morning before proceeding to Mumbai, had 424 passengers including 38 Nepalese on board,' the statement said.

The number of persons evacuated so far by Air India now stands at 1,449, including 45 Nepalese nationals.

An Air India spokesman confirmed that more flights will be operated by the national carrier when more Indian nationals need to be airlifted from trouble-torn Lebanon.

Israel has been bombing Lebanon after Hezbollah militants began shelling Israeli towns and kidnapped two of their soldiers.