India calls on Yemen to free abducted priest

India’s external affairs minister yesterday called on the deputy prime minister of Yemen to free an abducted priest, the Times of India reported.

During a diplomatic meeting, Sushma Swaraj wasted no time in telling Abduljalil Al-Mekhlafi to free one of India’s priests. Al-Mekhlafi reassured the official that the priest is alive and the government is working to attain his release.

Father Tom Uzhunnalil was abducted in April 2016 in Aden, southern Yemen. The identity of the group that abducted him remains unknown. However, it is likely that either Daesh in Yemen or Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is responsible.

Read: Kidnapped Indian priest in Yemen pleads for help in video

The priest appeared in a video on 26 December 2016 requesting the Indian government to seek his release. In a recent video according to the Times of India, the priest asserted that he is in need of immediate hospital attention and scolded his government’s poor response.

Yemen has been locked in a bitter civil war since 2014 when Houthi fighters gained control of the capital, Sana’a, forcing the internationally backed government into exile.