Kidnapped Turkish consulate staff in Iraq safe: FM

Ankara, June 13: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said 49 staff and family members

in the Turkish consulate general in

are safe, media reported Friday.

A group of the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL) militants took control of the consulate Wednesday and abducted 49 staff and family members, including the consul-general, after the militants captured the city of Mosul, capital of Nineveh province, Xinhua quoted the Turkish Foreign Ministry as saying.

The rescue efforts are continuing to release the abducted, Davutoglu said.

Meanwhile, 31 Turkish nationals were also taken hostage by the same militant group in a power plant in Gyarah region of Mosul.

The ISIL, commonly known as Al Qaeda in Iraq, seized Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and Tikrit, another provincial capital, respectively Tuesday and Wednesday in its renewed clashes with government forces.

IANS