MOSCOW, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) militants have taken some 60 foreign workers prisoner near the city of Kirkuk in North Iraq, China’s Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday, referring to local media.
On Tuesday, ISIS fighters raided a hospital under construction. A worker who was released claimed some 15 Turks, as well as workers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Turkmenistan were among the kidnapped.
Earlier, it was reported that a group of 40 Indian workers constructing an administrative building in Mosul tried to escape the militant-controlled city and get to Baghdad. However, they were stopped at the border by armed militiamen, who took them to an undisclosed location. India’s Foreign Ministry has said they have had no word from the kidnapped. New-Delhi is also concerned about the lives of 46 Indian nurses in the embattled city of Tikrit. According to Indian newspaper Hindu, the country’s ex-envoy to Iraq Suresh Reddy has been sent to Baghdad to help resolve the crisis.
Last week, ISIS fighters seized the Iraqi city of Mosul and captured 49 employees from Turkey’s consulate-general.
The situation in Iraq worsened dramatically in early June, when the fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant seized the major cities of Mosul and Tikrit, and claimed they intended to launch an offensive on Baghdad. Facing heavy fighting, Iraqi troops fled the area. Many soldiers have been taken captive or executed by the insurgents.
Iraqi authorities later claimed the army was working in coordination with Iraqi Kurdistan-based militias and armed groups consisting of local tribesmen. Together, they have reportedly succeeded in fighting off the ISIS attack on the town of Baqubah, pressing the insurgents in Mosul and taking back Tikrit, Samarra and Taji, the last of which is just 20 miles from the country’s capital. Over 250 extremists have been killed in the anti-terror operation.
ISIS is considered to be the strongest radical insurgent group in the Middle East. Fighting against Syrian government forces, the group has also become active in bordering Iraq. Since late 2013, the group has held de-facto control over parts of Iraq’s Anbar Province. ISIS aims to establish an Islamic state under Sharia law in Iraq and Syria.
