Concerned about the deteriorating security situation in Iraq, India’s Ministry of External Affairs June 24 issued its second travel advisory for Indian nationals in Iraq. This follows a previous advisory issued on June 15.
The latest advisory asks Indian nationals in the conflict-prone zone to remain indoors, while others have been advised to leave the country on a voluntary basis by commercial means if it is safe to do so. Indian nationals have been warned against traveling to Iraq, the Gulf country which is caught in the cleft of a vicious insurgency unleashed by a Sunni militant group.
Forty Indian national, working with a Baghdad-based construction project, were abducted from Mosul more than a week ago as Sunnni Jihadist rebel group, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), took control of the city. On June 20, Syed Akbaruddin, the spokesperson of India’s external affairs ministry, announced that one of the 40 Indians had escaped and was in touch with the Indian officials in Baghdad. The ministry confirmed that the remaining 39 were unhurt but still in captivity.
The spokesperson also announced that Indian nationals in Iraq who needed assistance may contact the Indian embassy in Baghdad on the 24-hour helpline, and they would be opening camp offices in Najaf, Karbala and Basra soon.
Iraq is in midst of an insurgency led by the ISIS, which had managed to capture key oil refineries, transit points and cities in northern and western Iraq. More than 1000 people, mostly civilian have been killed since fighting began in early June.
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