by Nirmala Carvalho

Today Sunni militias released the women, who will return to India tomorrow. They were moved from Tikrit to Mosul and then to Erbil, where they will take a special flight. They had been trapped in Iraq since the beginning of June.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - Militants with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) today released 46 Indian nurses, who will return home tomorrow morning.

The International Red Cross confirmed that all the 46 Indian nurses were freed and that the information had been conveyed to Indian government officials. Sources said that the nurses would stay in Erbil, Kurdistan on Friday.

Kerala government sources added that a special chartered flight is waiting at Erbil Airport along with a Kerala and an Indian government representative to bring home the stranded nurses, most of whom are from that Indian state. Their plane is expected to land in Kochi at around 7 am on Saturday.

Right after their release, some nurses called their families in India to tell them that they would be dropped at Erbil Airport. The 46 women were trapped in Tikrit at the start of June.

ISIS militants took them away from the city last night and transferred them to a building in Mosul. "We have been taken to some place that looks like an old company," one nurse said.

"This place is near Mosul," she added. "We saw the Kirkook General Hospital, and also passed the Al Jamoori Hospital. Throughout the journey the militants were nice to us - even provided food, biscuits and water."

India's Ministry of External Affairs reported that about 100 Indian citizens are still in the conflict zone, though an exact number was not possible to give, adding that India was not alone and had partners "inside and outside Iraq".

Meanwhile, to nearly 1,000 Indians received tickets to travel out of Iraq. Another 1,500 want to leave the country and have registered with the ministry. (NC)

• iraq
• india
• nurses
• abducted
• release