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A group of 46 nurses of Indian origin detained at Mosul by Iraqi militants has been "directed to get ready to leave for airport to get out of the country and to safety''.
Sayona Thomas, a detainee, called her home in Palakkad to break the news. The group expects to reach New Delhi by this evening. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has confirmed the development.
Safe custody
Speaking to newspersons in New Delhi, the Chief Minister said that the nurses were under safe custody of the Sunni militants in Mosul.
He refused to reveal the exact identity of the abductors. The Chief Minister had conducted several rounds of discussions with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Delhi.
According to Sayona, the leader of the militant group had called on the detainees in Mosul in the morning and asked them to get ready to travel to the airport.
Erbil airport
The detainees were provided with food and water and were also allowed to use their phones to speak with their kin in India.
The group was being moved to the airport at Erbil, 85 km away, according to Ajeesh, a male nurse, who texted home the information.
Earlier, a four-member gang of militants had picked the nurses who were hiding in the basement of a hospital in Tikrit and brought them to the militants-controlled Mosul.
Meanwhile, India has already readied three aircraft to evacuate the nurses from Iraq. These are awaiting orders to fly out from their respective bases at Dubai, Mumbai and New Delhi, official sources said.
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