245 Egyptian Workers Leave Crisis-Stricken Iraq

Two-hundred and forty five Egyptians arrived on Friday at Cairo International Airport from Iraq after the crisis in the country deepened, MENA reported.

Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have overrun a succession of major Iraqi towns and cities over the last week and are closing in on Baghdad.

The company that the 245 Egyptians worked for made the decision to send them back to Egypt immediately.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said its sources on the ground estimate 40,000 people have fled militant-held Tikrit and Samarra, which has come under a series of attacks and where militants were gathering Friday for a new attempt to take the city, AFP reported.

The latest figure adds to the half a million people the IOM estimate to have fled Iraq’s second city, Mosul, after it was overrun Tuesday.

Source : Ahram online