NEW DELHI, June 18 - Unknown assailants have kidnapped 40 Indian construction workers from Iraq's second largest city of Mosul, which fell to Sunni insurgents last week, India's foreign ministry said on Wednesday. The identity of the kidnappers and the whereabouts of the workers is unknown, foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told a news briefing. No ransom demand has been received. "The Red Crescent confirmed to us that as per their information, 40 Indian construction workers have been kidnapped," Akbaruddin said. Islamist militants have long considered India a target. An al Qaeda video released last week called on Indian Muslims to follow the example of Syria and Iraq and launch a jihad, or holy war, against the government. 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, Akbaruddin said. The sister of one of the men abducted said he had been out of contact since last Sunday. "His phone has been switched off. We are tense and are wondering what happened to him," Gurpender Kaur told TV news channel CNN-IBN. "Until then, at least we were able to speak for a second or two, but now even that is not possible." About 10,000 Indian nationals are working in Iraq, mostly in areas unaffected by the fighting between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the national army. About 100 Indian workers are trapped in areas overrun by ISIL, Akbaruddin said. The Indian government has contact with many of them, including 46 nurses. It has sent a senior envoy to Baghdad to support repatriation efforts. The 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. ISIL fighters, who aim to establish a Muslim caliphate across the Iraqi-Syrian frontier, launched their revolt by seizing Mosul, and have swept through the Tigris valley towards Baghdad. Scores were killed on Tuesday in a battle for a provincial capital close to Baghdad, and fighting shut Iraq's biggest refinery at Baiji, hitting fuel and power supplies. U.S. President Barack Obama is considering military options to push back ISIL, a splinter group of al Qaeda that prides itself on its brutality and has boasted of massacring hundreds of troops who surrendered.
More
Vietnamese billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong commits $1 billion more to VinFast
He will spend VND10 trillion (US$394 million) from his pocket building charging stations in the next three years
Read more
Michelangelo's David gets spa treatment in Florence
David's bi-monthly cleaning, then, is 'a form of respect, a form of dignity that we want to give to every work'
2 months agoArgentine scientists find speedy 90-million-year-old herbivore dinosaur
The animal, named Chakisaurus nekul, was found in the Pueblo Blanco Natural Reserve, in the southern province of Río Negro
1 day ago'Extreme' climate blamed for world's worst wine harvest in 62 years
Australia and Italy suffered the worst
1 day agoColombia's Chiribiquete park to receive $1 million annually for at least 30 years
Colombia's parks agency, the Frankfurt Zoological Society and German fund Legacy Landscapes on Thursday launched a financial mechanism to fund Chiribiquete National Park with $1 million each year for at least 30 years
1 day agoBattling climate change, Japan looks to seagrass for carbon capture
Japan, the world's fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, covers a surface area smaller than California but has some of the longest coastlines in the world
2 days agoHighlights
Certain diners in Vietnam voice concern over pets being taken to eateries
Bringing pets to eateries may bother diners who suffer from pet allergies
Photos
Artist paints murals on house to raise awareness of COVID-19 prevention in Hanoi
He drew the virus, vaccine, and earth on the exterior walls of a house
Latest news
S. Korean richest K-pop idol celebrates 20th career anniversary with fan concert in Vietnam
The fan concert marks Kim Jae Joong’s 20th anniversary in the entertainment industry
Certain diners in Vietnam voice concern over pets being taken to eateries
Bringing pets to eateries may bother diners who suffer from pet allergies
Dried corpse of Vietnamese woman discovered in apartment in Hanoi
The body likely existed in the apartment for about a year
Scorching heat keeps baking central Vietnam with temps of over 42 degrees Celsius
Rains with thunderstorms may strike central Vietnam during noon and afternoon in the coming time
2 rangers die battling forest fire in northern Vietnam
The fire has been contained
Ho Chi Minh City authorities investigate BMW drifting chaos in downtown area
The drifting incident took place at an intersection in District 1
Unexploded 200kg bomb discovered in downtown in north-central Vietnam
Its discovery site lies near numerous offices, schools, and densely populated residential areas
K-pop band Tempest picks Ho Chi Minh City to hold debut concert for world tour
This will be the second time Tempest has performed in Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City reduces Reunification Day fireworks to 5 venues from 16
The fireworks are scheduled from 9:00 pm to 9:15 pm on April 30
Rain brings delight to Vietnam’s Da Nang amid heatwave
The unexpected rainfall lasted for over an hour