Jaitley declines to speculate on using troops for Iraq evacuation

New Delhi: Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday declined to specualte on the possibility of use of Indian troops to evacuate Indian nationals stranded in conflict-ravaged Iraq.

"I am not going to speculate at the moment," he said when asked if the armed forces would be deployed to evacuate Indian nationals stranded in the strife-torn Iraq. A total of 120 Indians were in violence-hit areas in the oil-rich Gulf nation, out of whom 16 have already been evacuated and one of those kidnapped has fled from captivity. Now, 103 Indians remain in the conflict zone including 47 nurses and 39 Indians in captivity.