Freed by Iraqi Militants, Indian Nurses Reach Home

The 46 Indian nurses, who were stranded in war-torn Iraq, finally reached their home in Kochi today. After a brief stoppage in Mumbai, the special Air India aircraft carrying these nurses reached Kochi where Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy received the nurses along with their families.

After a brief stoppage in Mumbai, the nurses finally arrived in Kochi. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was at the airport to receive the nurses.

It was an emotional moment for the families of these nurses who have spent the last few days anxiously waiting for them.

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.

Speaking to NDTV earlier this morning, Mr Chandy thanked Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj for her help in resolving the crisis. He added that in the last two days, he met her four times.

Besides the 46 nurses, the plane also brought back 100 other Indians who were trapped in Iraq because of the crisis there. They were accompanied by some officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Kerala government.

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.

The special aircraft took off from Erbil airport in the autonomous region of Kurdistan at 04:15 hours IST on Saturday and reached Mumbai airport just before 9 am.

"We are very happy," Marina Jose, one of the freed nurses, told NDTV. She added that the militants had behaved well with them.

On Thursday, they were forced to board two buses and were taken to Mosul. They were reportedly kept at a hospital there. On Friday evening, the government confirmed that they had been freed.