New Delhi: Two Indian teachers who were abducted in Libya over a year ago have been released, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Thursday, September 15.

“I am happy to inform that T Gopalakrishna (AP) and C BalaramKishan (Telangana) who were captive in Libya since July 29, 2015 have been rescued,” she tweeted.

Four Indian men were detained at a checkpoint about 50km from Sirte, hometown of former Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, in July while on their way back to India. Two of them, Lakshmikanth from Raichur in Karnataka and Bengaluru resident Vijay Kumar were released after two days in captivity. The abduction of the four Indians came a year after 39 Indians were kidnapped from the Iraqi city of Mosul.

There are 2,000 Indians at present in conflict-hit Libya, who stayed back despite many advisories urging them to leave the country. Since most of the Indian mission staff to Libya is now based out of Tunis, it is proving to be difficult task for officials to track the developments inside the trouble-torn country.