This Article is From Jul 05, 2014

Indian Nurses Freed By Militants in Iraq on Their Way Back Home

Indian Nurses Freed By Militants in Iraq on Their Way Back Home
New Delhi: The special Air India plane that is bringing back 46 Indian nurses who were freed by militants in war-torn Iraq on Friday evening is expected to land in India soon. The plane took off from the airport in Erbil in the autonomous region of Kurdistan at about 4.15 am IST.

Here are the 10 latest developments in this story

  1. The Air India Boeing 777 is expected to land in Mumbai around 9:30 am for refueling and will then head to Kochi. Most of the Indians being brought back from Iraq belong to Kerala.(How India Secured its Nurses' Release in Iraq) 

  2. Besides the 46 nurses, the plane is also carrying 100 other Indians who were working in Iraq and now wanted to come back because of the crisis there. They are being accompanied by some officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Kerala government.  (Air India Plane Leaves for Iraq to Bring Back Freed Indian Nurses)

  3. The 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.

  4. On Thursday, they were forced to board two buses and were taken to Mosul. They were reportedly kept at a hospital there.  (We Are Like Prisoners, Say Stranded Kerala Nurses in Iraq to NDTV)

  5. On Friday evening, the government confirmed that they had been freed. "Hope has triumphed. The nurses moved against their will are free," foreign ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said in New Delhi. (46 Indian Nurses in Iraq Freed by Militants, Say Sources)

  6. The special Air India plane sent by India was earlier not granted permission to land in Erbil and had to be diverted to Iran. This was reportedly due to an "information deficit" or because of security concerns in the troubled region, said sources. It finally landed at Erbil at 2 am.  (Captive Indian Nurses in Iraq 'Are Safe, Getting Food': 10 Developments)

  7. Much relieved after "We are very happy," Marina Jose,One of nurses freed by the militants told NDTV that the militants had behaved well with them. "We are very happy," said Marina Jose and added that she was now looking forward to going home to her family.

  8. Air India's special customer service team would be at the Kochi airport to provide all necessary assistance to the passengers.

  9. 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.

  10. 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.



Post a comment
.