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  India   Indian priest held by ‘ISIS’ in Yemen

Indian priest held by ‘ISIS’ in Yemen

AGE CORRESPONDENT WITH AGENCY INPUTS
Published : Mar 7, 2016, 12:07 am IST
Updated : Mar 7, 2016, 12:07 am IST

An Indian priest missing after an attack on a care home run in Yemen is being held by the assailants, likely militants from the ISIS, officials said Sunday.

An Indian priest missing after an attack on a care home run in Yemen is being held by the assailants, likely militants from the ISIS, officials said Sunday.

Yemeni authorities have blamed ISIS for the Friday attack on the refuge for the elderly operated by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in main southern city Aden.

“According to our information, the extremists who attacked the elderly care home in Aden have kidnapped priest Tom Uzhunnalil, a 56-year-old Indian, who was taken to an unknown location,” a Yemeni security official said. “We are aware that no group has yet claimed the criminal attack... But information points to the involvement of Daesh,” said the source, who asked to remain anonymous, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

New Delhi said it will spare no efforts to rescue Indian priest Father Uzhunnalil. Sources said Father Uzhunnalil is a priest at a church in Aden and was visiting the care-home when the militants struck and subsequently abducted him. “Yemen is a conflict zone. We do not have an embassy there. But we will spare no efforts to rescue Father Tom Uzhunnalil,” external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

The minister noted that though there was no Indian embassy in Yemen, there was a camp office in Djibouti. She also said it was confirmed that one Indian had been killed in the attack and not four as was initially believed.

Gunmen stormed the refuge killing a Yemeni guard before tying up and shooting 15 other employees, officials said. Four foreign nuns working as nurses were among those killed.

The Vatican missionary news agency Fides identified the nuns as two Rwandans, a Kenyan and an Indian, adding that the mother superior managed to hide and survive while an Indian priest was missing. The internationally recognised government in war-torn Yemen is grappling with both an Iran-backed rebellion and a growing jihadist presence.

The Vatican’s secretary of state Pietro Parolin has said Pope Francis “was shocked and profoundly saddened” to learn of “this act of senseless and diabolical violence.”

Al Qaeda and ISIS have stepped up attacks in Aden, targeting mainly loyalists and members of a Saudi-led coalition battling Houthi rebels and their allies since March 2015. Al Qaeda distanced itself from the mass shooting Friday, saying it was not responsible.

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi has declared Aden to be Yemen’s temporary capital as Sanaa has been in the hands of rebels since September 2014.

Location: Yemen, Aden