The Indian nurses, who were abducted by the Sunni insurgent group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), have only good things to say about the “bearded boys” after a three-week-long captivity.
The 46 nurses, who were working at a hospital in Iraq’s former ruler Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, were abducted by the ISIS rebels last month.
They were then moved out on Thursday against their will and detained in the militant-held city of Mosul, 250 km from Tikrit.
Some of them said they don’t feel like calling them abductors because they actually protected them in the strife-torn country.
“Our apprehension really forced us to hate them. But later we found in such a lawless situation they were protecting us. At their mercy, they could have done anything to us but they never misbehaved or taunted any of us,” said NS Shruti, one of the freed nurses who belongs to the outskirts of port city of Kochi.
Though polite initially, they changed their tone later.
“It seems they were under tremendous pressure to protect us. Since they also a feared an attack from government forces they were under terrible pressure,” she said.
They were allowed to make calls to their home initially but once they were shifted to Mosul they were strictly told not to use phones.
But they managed to call their relatives and that really helped the authorities.
Read More at: HT