Two from Hyderabad, two from K'taka abducted in Libya's Sirte: All you need to know

The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday confirmed that four Indians had been abducted in Libya’s Sirte.

While it is suspected that Islamic State is responsible for the abductions, the MEA has yet to confirm the speculation.

This comes despite an advisory issued by the Indian government in 2014 which asked its citizens to leave Libya.

Here is all you need to know about the abductions:

— Among the four Indians, one is from Raichur, one from Bengaluru and two from Hyderabad.

— MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup told the media that three of them were teaching at the University of Sirte, and one of them was working at the university’s Jufra branch.

— Swarup said that they were informed about the abduction by the Indian mission in Tripoli at 11 pm on 29 July.

— The Indians were reportedly returning to India from Tripoli and Tunis, when they were detained at a checkpoint approximately 50 km from Sirte.

— The Indians were taken back to Sirte after being abducted.

— The MEA is in regular touch with its counterpart in Libya and with the families of those abducted.

— Official sources said that the area from which the Indians were kidnapped is under the control of the Islamic State, which has taken control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria and has declared itself a caliphate.

With agency inputs