201 more Indians from Iraq return, more passengers expected over next two days

NEW DELHI: Over 200 Indians landed here from Najaf in trouble-torn Iraq on a special chartered flight of Iraq Airways early today. The Iraq Airways flight (No.18445) landed here at around 0430 hours carrying 201 Indians.

More passengers are expected to be airlifted back to India from Iraq over the next two days via special flights, including those of Air India. However, no more flights from Iraq are likely to arrive today. The plane, which has flown back, was chartered by the External Affairs Ministry.

Yesterday, 46 Indian nurses, who had been held captive by ISIS militants in Iraq, returned on a special AI flight to Kochi via Mumbai. The flight also brought back 137 others from the war-torn country, including 70 from Kirkuk in the northern part of Iraq. Nearly 600 Indian nationals are expected to come back from Iraq over the next two days, External Affairs Ministry had said yesterday.