Indian Nurses Trapped in Iraq Heading Home

A group of 46 Indian nurses trapped in an area of Iraq seized by Islamic militants were set to fly home after being freed from the rebel-held city of Mosul, Indian officials said Friday.

"Ultimately, it is hope that has triumphed," Syed Akbaruddin, spokesman for the Indian foreign ministry, told reporters.

"I can confirm to you that those Indian nurses who were yesterday moved against their will are now free."

The nurses found themselves trapped while working in a state-run hospital in the northern city of Tikrit when jihadists launched their lightning offensive last month.

It was not immediately clear if they had been abducted and held captive or if they had been trapped and unable to leave.

They were moved from Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit to the militant-held city of Mosul on Thursday.

They were now headed for the city of Arbil, the Kurdish regional capital, where they were scheduled to board a specially chartered plane for India.

"The government of India has agreed to send a special aircraft and send them back to Kochi tomorrow morning (Saturday)," said Oommen Chandy, the chief minister of the nurses' southern home state of Kerala.

"We are very thankful to the government of India, they have been very actively involved in this," he added.

The foreign ministry spokesman said the government was not immediately able to share details of how it arranged for the nurses to return to India.

"Diplomacy works through the front door, we are using other doors," Akbaruddin said.

But he added that he had been assured that the nurses "are all safe and unharmed".

The nurses' group was separate from another 39 Indian workers being held in Mosul, Iraq's second-biggest city and the first to fall in a jihadist-led offensive that has overrun swathes of territory north and west of Baghdad.

The news that the nurses were being released was hailed by relatives of the women.

Sayona Thomas, a nurse from Palakad in Kerala, called her father on Friday morning to tell him that there had been an agreement for their release.

"We are so happy and I thank God for everything," Thomas told the local Manorama News channel.

The nurses' ordeal had left Indian authorities scrambling to get them back to India.

The situation of the workers trapped in an area of Iraq overrun by Islamic militants in recent weeks has been the first foreign crisis for the new right-wing government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Worry has been mounting in India about their fate.

"My daughter told me that the militants are treating them well and are providing them biscuits and water. But we are tense and keep praying for their safety," the father of another nurse called Shruti S. Nair told AFP earlier Friday.

The Indian foreign ministry last month announced it would stop granting its nationals permission to travel to Iraq for work, while it advised those traveling for other purposes to cancel their plans.

More than 30 Turkish truck drivers were freed on Thursday after three weeks in captivity, but a separate group of almost 50 Turks seized in an attack on the Turkish consulate in Mosul last month remain in captivity.

Militants led by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group launched their offensive on June 9, and swiftly took control of large chunks of five provinces, sparking a crisis that has alarmed world leaders.