India Says Four Nationals Have Been Kidnapped in Libya

Four Indians were reportedly kidnapped in Libya on Friday, with Islamic militant group the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) allegedly thought responsible.

The Indians were kidnapped from the town of Sirte near the Middle Eastern nation’s capital city Tripoli, the BBC reported.

They had been working as teachers at the University of Sirte, in the hometown of the country’s late former dictator Muammar Gaddafi where ISIS has a strong presence.

“We are in regular touch with their families,” Vikas Swarup, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said in a statement to the ANI news agency, adding that they were ascertaining further details through the Indian mission in Tripoli. Three of the abductees are faculty at the University of Sirte while the fourth works at the university, Swarup said. All four hail from the south of India: two from Hyderabad and two from Karnataka.

“No ransom demand has been made yet. We are trying to ascertain their whereabouts,” local news channel NDTV quoted Indian foreign ministry officials as saying.