40 Indian construction workers kidnapped in Iraq, says ministry

India’s Foreign Ministry says 40 Indian citizens working for a Turkish construction company near the Iraqi town of Mosul have been kidnapped.

Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin confirmed the kidnapping on Wednesday. He said the government has been unable to contact the workers.

There are about 10,000 Indian citizens working and living in Iraq. Akbaruddin said only about 100 are in violent, insecure areas. That includes the construction workers near Mosul as well as 46 Indian nurses working in a hospital in the Iraqi town of Tikrit.

Akbaruddin said humanitarian organisations have been in touch with the nurses, who are safe and have been advised to avoid travel by road.

India sent a senior diplomat to Baghdad on Wednesday.

The ministruy said no ransom demands have been received and their whereabouts are unknown.

Akbaruddin said the government did not know who was behind the kidnapping. Most of the hostages are from the north Indian state of Punjab and were working for a Baghdad-based company called Tariq Noor Al Huda.

“The Red Crescent confirmed to us that as per their information, 40 Indian construction workers have been kidnapped,” Akbaruddin told a media briefing.

The 46 nurses are stranded in Tikrit, which is under militant control, with many of them holed up in the hospital where they work. Nurses who spoke to the Indian media said they had been treating people wounded in fierce street fighting.

The Red Crescent, a humanitarian group, has contacted the nurses and is providing assistance, Akbaruddin said.