46 Indian nurses, who were abducted by Islamic State militants in Iraq and freed yesterday, returned back to India.

New Delhi, July 5/Nationalturk – In what could be termed good news, 46 Indian nurses, who were abducted by Islamic State militants in Iraq and freed yesterday, returned back to India in a special plane on Saturday.

The special Air India plane carrying 46 Indian nurses landed in Kochi in Southern Indian state of Kerala. The nurses were received by their family members and chief minister of the State.

The plane also brought back about 100 other Indians from the war-torn Iraq.

The nurses were working at a hospital in Tikrit, the birthplace of former president Saddam Hussein which has been witnessing fierce fighting between Iraqi Shiite troops and Sunni militants led by IS.

Nurses were abducted by IS militants

They were abducted by IS militants. On Thursday, the nurses were forced to board two buses by IS militants and taken to Mosul, where they were reportedly kept at a hospital there.

On Friday afternoon, Indian government has confirmed that the abducted nurses had been freed and will be flying to Erbil International airport, where from they will return to India.

Sources said the nurses were freed by IS insurgents after intense diplomatic efforts by India.

‘IS militants behaved well with us’

One of the nurses, Marina Jose, told a private TV news channel NDTV that IS militants behaved well with them.

“We all are very happy. We never thought we will return back to India,” she said.

“Our captors never misbehaved with them. What really scared us was they always covered their faces. They often changed the guard. So, it was tough to be friendly with them. Besides, language was a big problem, ”she said.

Meanwhile, 39 Indian construction workers kidnapped two weeks ago in Mosul city continue to remain in captivity of IS militants.

Over 1000 Indian nationals are still present in Iraq and Indian government is making intense efforts to evacuate all of them.

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Asia News/ NationalTurk India News