A Bangladeshi national has been taken hostage by the terrorist group ISIS in Libya along with eight other foreign nationals.
Published : 09 Mar 2015, 01:55 PM
The foreign ministry on Monday said Helal Uddin, passport number B0156553, of Jamalpur district was abducted on Friday when gunmen invaded the Al-Ghani oil field south of Libya’s Sirte city.
Bangladesh Embassy in Tripoli has confirmed the abduction and is trying to find out his whereabouts.
The embassy is also in close contact with National Oil Company (NOC) of Libya and the concerned company VAOS where the incident took place.
The foreign ministry said they were also “closely monitoring” the incident with Bangladesh Embassy in Tripoli.
Libya’s oil security forces told Gulf News that they have taken back the oilfield. ISIS militants have killed 11 guards, several of whom were beheaded, one official was quoted as saying.
Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said the workers missing after the assault earlier this week on Al-Ghani field, included a Czech and an Austrian and others from Bangladesh and the Philippines.
ISIS hogged the spotlight last year by announcing a 'Caliphate' after seizing vast swathes of Iraq and Syria after al Qaeda's activities ebbed due to heavy attack from the West.
The radical Sunni jihadist group is believed to have killed several thousand people since it emerged in April 2013.
This is the first known Bangladeshi to be abducted by them.
Bangladesh has earlier announced its zero tolerance policy towards any form of terrorism and extremism.
It however refused to join US-led effort to destroy ISIS in Iraq last year.
The government said they would be willing to join if the United Nations launches a humanitarian effort in the troubled war zones.