New Delhi:
A special plane sent by the Indian government to bring back 46 Indian nurses, who were freed by Sunni militant group ISIS in war-torn Iraq, has not been given permission to land at the Erbil airport in Kurdistan region.
Sources say the permission was denied due to some information deficit. The aircraft has been diverted to Iran, sources add.
Here are 10 developments in this story:
The nurses are with Indian officials and at the Erbil airport. The Air India Boeing 777 was supposed to carry the nurses directly to Kochi as most of the Indians being brought back belong to Kerala.
The plane, carrying some officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Kerala government, was also going to bring 70 other Indians from Kirkuk who were trapped in the strife-torn country.
"I am happy to be free," one of the freed nurses had told NDTV. She had spoken briefly to her family members.
Air India also has two Boeing 747 jumbos ready to fly at short notice, while cockpit and cabin crew to operate them are also on standby.
The 46 Indian and 10 Bangladeshi nurses had been living in a hospital in Tikrit, the birthplace of former president Saddam Hussein, which has seen fierce fighting this week as Iraqi troops battle to regain control of the city from the Sunni insurgent group ISIS or the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
Yesterday they were forced to board two buses and were taken to Mosul. They were reportedly kept at a hospital there.
"Hope has triumphed. The nurses moved against their will are free," foreign ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said in New Delhi as news of the nurses being freed by the militants was confirmed.
Erbil is the capital of Kurd autonomous region, which falls in the no-conflict zone. The Kurd autonomous region has held a defensive line on its borders against the militants.
39 Indian construction workers kidnapped two weeks ago in Mosul remain in captivity. Mr Akbaruddin said there were a "significant number of other Indians" in ISIS captivity. "We will leave no stone unturned to get back our nationals from an extremely difficult situation," he said.
About 10,000 Indians work in Iraq. Scores of them have returned to India since fighting began. The government says some 900 people are ready to fly home.
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