Turkish hostages captured by Islamic State in Iraq several months ago have arrived in Turkey on Saturday, after a covert operation to free them, according to Istanbul.
The 49 hostages, including diplomats and their families, were captured by the militants in June in the Iraqi city of Mosul, which was overrun by Islamic State fighters.
“The Turkish intelligence agency has followed the situation very sensitively and patiently since the beginning and, as a result, conducted a successful rescue operation,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement on Saturday.
Turkey has so far rejected involvement in the US-led military campaign against IS, partly because of fears it could jeopardise any attempts to free the hostages.
We will destroy ISIL wherever they are says Obama as US builds coalition against IS (11 September 2014)