ISIL hostage says Turkish truck drivers unharmed, expect release

ISTANBUL

This image posted on a militant news Twitter account on June 12, shows militants from the al-Qaida-inspired ISIL removing part of the soil barrier on the Iraq-Syria borders and moving through it. AP Photo

One of the Turkish truck drivers taken hostage by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on June 13 has said they are unharmed and are expecting release soon.

Halil Ada, among the 31 drivers held by ISIL, told a TV broadcast in Turkey they had been able to talk with their families and were being held at the airport of Gayera, near Mosul, under the watch of “two or three ISIL militants.”

“They brought us to another location after capturing us. We have now been held for four days, but we have had the opportunity to talk with our families,” Ada said, adding that most of the drivers were in good condition.

“They give us white bread and water. They did not interrogate us. But we secretly talk on the phone and hide them when they come,” he added.

ISIL also took 49 diplomats and their family members hostage after raiding the Turkish consulate in Mosul on June 12 and diplomatic efforts are continuing to secure the release of all 80 Turkish hostages. Daily Hürriyet has reported that local tribes are acting as intermediaries to secure the hostages' release.