Union external affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday stated that the country is making all efforts to secure the release of a priest from Kerala who was allegedly abducted by a terror group in Ye
Union external affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday stated that the country is making all efforts to secure the release of a priest from Kerala who was allegedly abducted by a terror group in Yemen last month.
“Father Tom Uzhunnallil — an Indian national from Kerala — was abducted by a terror group in Yemen. We are making all efforts to secure his release,” Ms Swaraj said in a tweet.
The minister’s remarks came in the backdrop of reports claiming that the terror group planned to execute the priest on Good Friday yesterday. However, sources stated that there is no report of any harm having come to him so far.
Father Uzhunnalil had gone missing in Yemen after the Islamic State militant group attacked a care home run by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity.
“Yemen is a conflict zone. We do not have an embassy there. But we will spare no efforts to rescue Father Tom Uzhunnalil,” Ms Sushma Swaraj had tweeted earlier.
The external affairs minister also tweeted, “We have issued advisories many times. I request you once again — please move out of the conflict zones.”
Terrorists had allegedly stormed the refuge for the elderly earlier this month and killed a Yemeni guard before tying up and shooting 15 other employees. Four foreign nuns, including an Indian, working as nurses were among those killed.
