46 Indian nurses said to be out of ISIS captivity and on way home: Reports

Kerala Chief Minister Ommen Chandy's office sources have said that the 46 nurses who were stranded in Iraq will reach Erbil International Airport today and leave for Kochi tomorrow.

The sources also indicated that a special flight will leave from Delhi to Erbil at 5 p.m. today to bring back the stranded nurses. One official from Kerala House and one from the Central Government will be on board the special flight from Delhi to Erbil.

Reports said the nurses are expected to reach Kochi in Kerala, at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy earlier today said that a top level crisis management committee has been formed under the chairmanship of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to bring back captive Indian nurses back from Iraq.

Chandy is also expected to meet the External Affairs Minister later today. He has already held two consecutive meetings with Swaraj regarding the safe return of the nurses.

The 46 nurses had been reportedly taken away by ISIS militants from Tikrit to an old building somewhere in Mosul late on Thursday night.

There were about 10,000 Indians in Iraq before the start of the strife between government troops and Sunni militants. The militants have captured two key cities and have their sights set on Baghdad. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been displaced in the fighting that broke out on June 10.