Kirkuk:Â Militants advancing towards Iraq’s capital Baghdad have released 48 foreigners, held captive for several days. However, there is no news of the 40 Indian workers, captured near the Iraqi city of Mosul.
The released were construction workers from Turkey, Nepal, Bangladesh, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, who were helping build a hospital in the now insurgent-held city of Tikrit. They will be returning to their countries soon according to Major-General Torhan Abdulrahman, the deputy police chief for Kirkuk province.
Militants have kidnapped many foreigners since launching an offensive last week and capturing a swathe of territory across four Iraqi provinces. The Iraqi government has said it is not clear whether the Indian workers are being held by the Sunni insurgent group ISIS – which has waged a war against the Iraqi government – or some other group.
India had said on Thursday that it knows the location of its workers kidnapped near Mosul, as many of their family members revealed they had talked about their abduction in phone calls till Sunday.
“We are doing everything possible to ensure their safe return,” Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said after meeting the families of some of the workers.
Condemning the kidnappings, Congress President Sonia Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, urging him to “intensify all diplomatic efforts required to ensure safety” of the Indian nationals and “secure their release”. She also promised that her party would be “fully supportive” in that endeavour.
While a body representing Muslim social and religious organisations in India called upon rebel forces in Iraq to release the Indian nationals on humanitarian grounds. The All-India Majlis-e-Mushawarat issued the appeal on Thursday even as it sought to remind the rebel leaders that India and Iraq have traditionally enjoyed strong ties and India has never taken sides in rivalries between warring groups involved in the internal strife in Iraq.
“These Indians are all innocent people serving in a foreign land. Why should they pay the price for the folly of others,” said the president of the Majlis, Zafarul Islam Khan. All Indians are deeply concerned about the recent internal strife in Iraq and are hopeful of a peaceful resolution to the internal conflict, Khan said.