Indian nun among 16 dead in Yemen shootout
An Indian nun was among 16 killed in the Yemeni port city of Aden by a group of armed men who opened fired after storming into an old age home run by Kolkata based Missionaries of Charity.
Officials initially said that four Indian nuns had been killed in the attack and that they were trying to ascertain the identities of the deceased.
Later on Friday night, officials confirmed that of the four nuns killed, only one, Cecilia Minj was Indian.
After the tragedy, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj through her twitter account appealed “all Indians in such danger zones to please come back to India”.
Earlier, Mrs Swaraj had tweeted “Yemen — Four Indian nurses have been killed in a terrorist attack today. I am sorry the nurses stayed back/returned ignoring our advisories.”
Missionaries of Charity, later identified those killed as Sister M Anselm (57) from Jharkhand, Sister M Marguerite (44) from Rwanda, Sister M Judith (41) from Kenya and Sister M Reginette (32) from Rwanda.
In a statement, it added that Sister M Sally, the superior of the community, and Father Tommy ADB from Bengaluru, have been missing after the incident.
“On entering, they shot dead the gatekeeper and started shooting randomly at the inmates,” Indian officials informed the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Officials told MEA that the attack on the old-age home in Sheikh Othman district took place at around 1230 hours.
“The assailants escaped soon after the attack. The area has been cordoned off and police are investigating the incident,” officials said according to Indian Express.
In New Delhi, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup told Indian Express, “We are trying to ascertain the details.”
The statement by the Missionaries of Charity said that “the men were dressed in a bluish uniform and armed with guns. They entered when the sisters were serving breakfast in the home. Realizing the danger, four of the five sisters ran for safety towards the convent and were shot down in the open area,”
The gunmen entered all rooms and destroyed the tabernacle, statues and the crucifix in the chapel, the statement further added,
“They must have been demented. They cannot be normal people. There is no other explanation as to why armed people would enter the premises of the home and shoot down innocent, harmless nurses who had dedicated their lives to serving others. I was stunned when I heard about it. It was shocking,” said Missionaries of Charity spokesperson, Sunita Kumar to Indian Express, adding that the organization would hold special prayers.
The Indian Embassy in Yemen’s capital Sanaa was closed last year after civil war broke out. All its functions are now carried out from a camp office in Djibouti which is in the process of being shifted to New Delhi.
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