- 51 Indian and Bangladeshi nurses holed up at a hospital in Tikrit are being moved at gun point away from the Iraqi soldiers to Mosul, an interior city, where they are likely to work for a Jaysh al-Tariqa al-Naqshbandia, an armed group with close link to Iraq’s Sunni tribal leadership.
- The move is likely to trigger a greater flow of Indians wanting to leave Iraq. As it is, refugees are moving away from Mosul as it is facing a shortage in food and electricity.
- There have been conflicting reports about the alliance between Jaysh and ISIS, with the former claiming to be fighting both the ISIS and Iraq amidst reports of them sharing power with the ISIS elsewhere.
- While there were reports of the nurses being caught in crossfire between the militants and Iraqi soldiers, the Indian govt has dismissed the reports and said the location of the nurses are unknown.
- The Kurdish govt has promised all possible assistance in the efforts to move the nurses away from the fighters. Iraqi soldiers are still struggling to reclaim lost territories.
- Efforts are being directed towards establishing a political coalition between the various Sunni tribes to combat the ISIS, but this looks unlikely as the Iraqi PM is accused of destroying the national identity of Sunnis.
- Read at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/nurses-were-being-moved-towards-mosul/article6175883.ece
- http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/isis-forces-indian-nurses-out-of-tikrit/article6175862.ece
Exams Perspective:
- Sectarian Violence in Iraq