- LATEST
- WEBSTORY
- TRENDING
INDIA
46 Indian nurses in ISIS custody in Iraq
Updated : Jul 02, 2014, 07:55 AM IST
TRENDING NOW
)
'Gets very difficult to...': Abhishek Bachchan's FIRST interview amid divorce rumours with Aishwarya Rai goes viral
)
Shilpa Shetty breaks down, Salman Khan cancels shoot; celebs rush to Lilavati hospital after Baba Siddique shot dead
)
'Until Nitish took charge in Bihar, there was no serious concern for...': PM Modi attacks previous RJD-led govt in state
)
'He was adamant...': Here's why Abhishek Bachchan skipped Aishwarya Rai's birthday celebrations amid divorce rumours
)
Kerala lottery TODAY November 14: Karunya Plus KN- 547 result to be OUT at 3 PM, know how to check full winners list
)
Meet Imsha Rehman, Pakistani TikTok star who deactivated her accounts after video leak and Minahil Malik's MMS
)
Meet star with no hit films, still earns Rs 5 lakh a month, is more famous than Aishwarya, Amitabh, Kareena, Ram Charan
)
Internet fuming over BIZZARE fan reaction in Diljit Dosanjh concert, netizens say, 'better if asteroid hit earth'
)
'Vivian Dsena you are an...': Ravi Dubey reacts after Madhubala star calls him his favourite TV actor in Bigg Boss 18
)
Amid Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai divorce rumours, Jaya Bachchan surprises everyone with...
)
India's highest paid actor charges Rs 300 crore for a film; more than Vijay, Shah Rukh, Prabhas, Rajini, Ranbir, Salman
)
Meet woman, who travels in India's most expensive SUV, owns Rs 1160000000 house, not Nita Ambani, Isha Ambani, she is...
)
India's biggest hit film released in 1988, made heroine a superstar after 10 flop films, is related to SRK, earned Rs..
)
Mukesh Ambani's son Anant Ambani, daughter in law Radhika Merchant seen hand in hand in Dubai, video goes viral
)
Pakistani TikTok star Minahil Malik's dance video goes viral amid MMS leak controversy, watch
The 46 Indian nurses, confined to the Tikrit Teaching Hospital compound in Tikrit, Iraq, for over two weeks, are now said to be in the "protective" custody of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants.
This is contrary to what the ministry of external affairs (MEA) has been insisting all along: the hospital compound has no rebel presence, and that the nurses are "safe".
A source, who has been in regular contact with the nurses, told dna that Tuesday evening there were apprehensions that the nurses might be moved out of the hospital compound at night by the ISIS militants. But by late evening, fears on that score were put to rest. "The nurses said the buses came and left without them," said the source.
This disquieting development came even as MEA cautioned the Indian media against reporting on the nurses' whereabouts/condition or for that matter of other Indians held captive in Iraq by ISIS rebels.
"Humanitarian agencies and the Iraq government have pleaded with us, requesting us to ask the Indian media to show restraint. The reports are endangering the lives of nurses and other Indian citizens. By talking to nurses directly and disclosing that there are interlocutors you are endangering the lives of Indians," MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters in New Delhi.
Also, on Tuesday, the MEA acknowledged that there have been firing and bombings in the vicinity of the hospital. "The nurses have taken refuge in the basement... At present they remain safe and unharmed," Akbaruddin said.
But the source told dna that the nurses were asked to to go down to the basement by the ISIS militants after the hospital compound was "bombed" for the third consecutive night. "The nurses were told the basement was far more safe."
"For a while the nurses returned to their rooms as the rebels wanted to pray and break their Ramzan fast in the basement," said the source. "The nurses fear if they are taken out of the hospital, they will be at the mercy of the militants."
Tikrit has come under intense Iraqi forces's fire over the past week. The Iraqi forces are accompanied by bands of Shia militia who have a score to settle with the Islamic State fighters.
