New Delhi: A representative of UNICEF, Iraq, has also reiterated the sentiments of the Iraqi ambassador to India saying it is hard to confirm if the Indians who've gone missing in Mosul were captured or just trapped due to the ongoing conflict in the region.
"We have been reported that there is a group of Indian citizens trapped in Mosul. It is very difficult to say from these angles if they are captured or just trapped. We have an increasing number of families moving out in safe havens provided by the Kurdish forces," Marzio Babille, the UNICEF representative said.
In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, Iraqi Ambassador, Ahmad Tahseen, had also said that his government does not know if the 39 missing Indians in Mosul have been abducted. "We cannot say if they are captured. We know they are alive but not sure which locations in Mosul are they in," Tahseen said.
Meanwhile, even as families of Indians stranded in Iraq continue to remain tense, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley has said there is no decision as yet on evacuating them. The government had on Monday said that India is also ascertaining facts about the reported death of an Indian in Iraq even as it is making all efforts to secure release of 39 Indian construction workers who were in "captivity".
"I have checked with our mission about possibility of an Indian worker in Southern Iraq who may have succumbed to a heart attack... (but) they had not yet got confirmation from the concerned company. It is normal for a company to inform the mission and further action is taken," Syed Akbaruddin, the Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry, said.
"It is possible that the company is completing its procedures at their end before they come to us. But should this unfortunate event have taken place we will assist to bring back the mortal remains as per the standard procedure. But at this stage, I cannot confirm (the death)," he said. He was responding to reports of death of an Indian due to heart attack in Najaf.
Giving details of Indians who have sought help, Akbaruddin said while 120 nationals have approached Indian embassy, there are over 300 requests with the control room here for various types of assistance. 40 Indians were reportedly abducted from Mosul and one of them had fled from captivity and had shared various details about the captors to the Indian authorities.
The MEA says the 46 Indian nurses trapped in the ISIS controlled city of Tikrit are safe and Indian authorities are in constant touch with them.
Comments
0 comment