Indians abducted in Iraq unharmed, remain govt's top priority: MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Syed Akbaruddin today said that the MEA was in touch with 46 nurses stranded in Tikrit as the government continued it’s struggle to bring back those stuck in violence torn Iraq. “There are 103 Indians in conflict zones. Company with the largest no of Indian nationals is in Najaf. There are around 2,000 employees from India. We also got in touch with Indian agents who sent the Indians to work with the company in Najaf,” Akbaruddin said. [caption id=“attachment_1583241” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] He also said that some Indian nationals were not in the conflict zones but there were issues with their documents, visa or contracts. “We have received 300 requests of assistance of different sorts. 100 relate to evacuation, 100 requests are with regards to relatives not being able to contact those in Iraq. There are more than 500 people in Basra, but it is not close to the conflict zone,” he said. Affirming that the abducted workers were on top of the government’s priority, Akbaruddin said that the abducted workers were unharmed and that the situation was being closely monitored. “We have already said there is no safety in captivity. That said we are trying to get information on them everyday,” he said. Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj today held a meeting with Indian envoys of countries neighbouring Iraq. She had assured family members of the kidnapped workers that the government is working towards bringing them back and that she was personally monitoring the situation. In a brisk onslaught in the last two weeks, Militants have seized several towns in Northern Iraq as the government failed to prevent heavily armed and organised ISIS. Today, militants seized a border post with Jordan and Syria as US secretary of state John Kerry arrived in Baghdad for a surprise visit.