Due to the continuous efforts of the Ministry of External Affairs, 17 Indian citizens who were held captive by an armed group in Libya have been safely evacuated and brought back to India. Sources familiar with the situation provided this information on Monday. They revealed that these Indian citizens are from Punjab and Haryana and arrived in Delhi on Sunday evening. According to sources, the Indian Embassy in Tunisia played a crucial role in safely evacuating Indian citizens. Family members of the Indian citizens stranded there had drawn the attention of the Indian Embassy in Tunisia to this matter on May 26.
The captives were held in the city of Djerba in Libya. According to sources, an armed group had taken them captive there. Prior to this, they had been illegally brought into the country. Sources indicated that the Indian Embassy in Tunisia had consistently raised this issue with Libyan authorities through informal channels in May and June.
On June 13, the Libyan administration successfully managed to rescue the Indian citizens, but they were detained for entering the country illegally. Sources reported that due to the intervention of the Indian Ambassador in Tunisia and high-level officials from the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, the Libyan administration agreed to release them.
According to sources, during the stay of these Indian citizens in Libya, the Indian Embassy in Libya took care of all their needs. Since they did not have passports, emergency travel documents were issued to facilitate their return to India. In addition, the Indian Embassy also arranged for the payment of tickets for their journey back to India.