Nurses they save lives. It is unfair to see them getting targeted by Jihadis.
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NEW DELHI: The 46 Indian nurses trapped in a hospital in Tikrit continue to be in a precarious state even as the Indian government got yet another confirmation on Wednesday that they are safe and unharmed. The nurses were forced to take shelter in the basement of the building after fighting between Sunni jehadi group ISIS, which took control of the city last month, and Iraqi forces intensified.
Indian ambassador to Iraq, Ajay Kumar, spoke to the nurses who told him that they were unharmed, according to the external affairs ministry.
"Our ambassador (in Iraq) has talked to them. They are unharmed, safe," external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said here. He was replying to a query about a reported conversation between the nurses and Amnesty International in which the nurses said that armed men had taken control of the hospital building. While the government refused to confirm it, these gunmen are suspected to be from ISIS.
"Iraqi authorities used to come to the hospital to reassure us. Now they have also stopped coming. It is just us, some Bangladeshi workers who came here for some construction work and the gunmen," a nurse told Amnesty.
Asked about reports that India was among jehad targets of the ISIS, he said: "India's safety and security is in safe hands." Answering a question about the 39 Indians in captivity in Mosul, Akbaruddin said they are unharmed.
According to the government, the "facilitation phase" to help Indian nationals wanting to return from Iraq was proceeding satisfactorily with over 500 men already provided with air tickets. The documents of another 850 men, most of them in Najaf, Karbala and Basra, are being processed.
Nurses trapped in Tikrit unharmed: Govt - The Times of India
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NEW DELHI: The 46 Indian nurses trapped in a hospital in Tikrit continue to be in a precarious state even as the Indian government got yet another confirmation on Wednesday that they are safe and unharmed. The nurses were forced to take shelter in the basement of the building after fighting between Sunni jehadi group ISIS, which took control of the city last month, and Iraqi forces intensified.
Indian ambassador to Iraq, Ajay Kumar, spoke to the nurses who told him that they were unharmed, according to the external affairs ministry.
"Our ambassador (in Iraq) has talked to them. They are unharmed, safe," external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said here. He was replying to a query about a reported conversation between the nurses and Amnesty International in which the nurses said that armed men had taken control of the hospital building. While the government refused to confirm it, these gunmen are suspected to be from ISIS.
"Iraqi authorities used to come to the hospital to reassure us. Now they have also stopped coming. It is just us, some Bangladeshi workers who came here for some construction work and the gunmen," a nurse told Amnesty.
Asked about reports that India was among jehad targets of the ISIS, he said: "India's safety and security is in safe hands." Answering a question about the 39 Indians in captivity in Mosul, Akbaruddin said they are unharmed.
According to the government, the "facilitation phase" to help Indian nationals wanting to return from Iraq was proceeding satisfactorily with over 500 men already provided with air tickets. The documents of another 850 men, most of them in Najaf, Karbala and Basra, are being processed.
Nurses trapped in Tikrit unharmed: Govt - The Times of India
