Indian governm-ent has said over 100 Indian citizens are present in the conflict zone in Iraq.

New Delhi, June 24/Nationalturk – Over 100 Indian citizens are present in the conflict zone in Iraq and efforts are on to fly them out of the country, Indian government said.

“India has about a 120 plus Indian nationals in the conflict zone in Iraq. Of them 17 were  successfully removed from the conflict zone,” said Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin .

He said Indian government is trying to assist the others in that zone. “They are broadly in three rubrics, one are those Indian nationals who are in captivity. We have again received a reconfirmation that Indian nationals in captivity remain unharmed. Regarding 46 nurses, we are in constant contact with them. They remain safe and we are working to continue to assist them. Finally there are the rest of the Indian nationals, who we are working to assist to ensure that they are moved out of the conflict zone.”

40 Indian nationals have been abducted from Mosul city, which was taken over by ISIS and other Sunni militants last week.

Indian government has said there has been no ransom demand from the abductors. However, it has asserted that its abducted nationals are safe.

‘Over 10,000 Indian nationals in Iraq’

The spokesperson said beyond the conflict zone, there are more than about 10,000 Indian nationals. “These Indian nationals are not facing a threat in terms of the conflict zone. However, there are issues relating to their status, their documentation, visa requirements as well as their contractual obligations. In essence labour issues.”

“We are in regular touch with a variety of companies because obviously these Indian nationals work in a large number of companies,” he said adding Indian government is engaged with a variety of companies, largely in the southern part of Iraq but some of them also in the northern part which is with a Kurdish government there.

ISIS and its allies Sunni militants have been making rapid gains in Iraq and have taken control of large swathe of area including most of border crossings with Syria. The militants have also reportedly taken control of Iraq’s largest oil refinery.

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