Another 200 Indians from Iraq return home today

Two-hundred Indians landed here from Najaf in trouble-torn Iraq on a special chartered flight of Iraq Airways early today. The flight landed here at around 0430 hours in the morning carrying the passengers.

More passengers are expected to be airlifted and brought back from Iraq over the next two days from special flights including that of Air India. The plane was chartered by the External Affairs Ministry.  This comes a day after 46 Indian nurses, who were held captive by ISIS militants in Iraq, and 137 others including 70 from Kirkuk in the northern part of Iraq, who returned in a special AI flight to Kochi via Mumbai yesterday.

Momentum of return of Indian nationals from Iraq gathers pace. 600 more Indian nationals returning home in next 48 hours.

— Syed Akbaruddin (@MEAIndia) July 5, 2014

Nearly 600 Indian nationals will come back from conflict-hit Iraq over the next two days, External Affairs Ministry had said yesterday.

To follow the latest on Iraq crisis

ALSO READ: Indian nurses return home, vow never to return to Iraq
Forty six Indian nurses, holed up for nearly a month in a hospital in Kirkuk, Iraq, surviving on biscuits and bread, landed home in India on Saturday, and vowed to never again return to the strife-torn nation. Iraq's forces have been battling with Sunni rebels who have captured Mosul, parts of Tikrit and several posts along the Syria-Iraq border. The rebels, known as the Islamic State, handed over the nurses to Indian authorities on Friday; the nurses, all from Kerala, were then flown on a special Air India flight to Kochi, where they were welcomed not only by their families and friends, but also by state chief minister Oomen Chandy and hundreds of well-wishers. "We will not go back. There is no question of going back. We are not prepared to endanger our lives once again," said Sandra Sebastian. Read more