Iraq: Abducted may be used as shields by ISIS, says escaped Indian

The one man among the 40 Indians abducted by the ISIS who managed to escape has said that the other 39 may be used by the militant group as human shields in case of a military offensive in Iraq. The Hindustan Times  reports an official as saying, “While there is little information on the other captives, in its conversations with Harjit Singh, now in the safe custody of Kurdish authorities in Erbil, the government has concluded that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant may use the Indians as their first line of defence” [caption id=“attachment_1583241” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Singh managed to escape from captivity in Mosul on Friday. The Hindustan Times report says that Singh told Indian and Kurdish officials that he managed to melt into a group of Bangladeshis and ‘’jumped over a barbed-wire fence’’ to flee. He and others were used as porters and cooks by their captors, Singh told Baghdad-based Indian embassy officials. The 40 Indian construction workers were kidnapped from Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city which was seized by Sunni militants. Eight Indians have been moved out of trouble-torn Baiji while eight others, who were working with Lanco at its project in Anbar were also evacuated. Meanwhile, the government is in constant touch with the 46 nurses stranded in Tikrit town, which was also taken over by Sunni militants. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin had said there was electricity in the hospital and arrangements for food had been made. Nobody intruded the hospital and they felt that the situation there was “quiet” as there was no gunfire.