abducted allegedly by ISIS

I am happy to inform that Father Tom Uzhunnalil has been rescued. https://t.co/FwAYoTkbj2 — Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) 1505211053000

With #Oman help, #Vatican priest Uzhunnalil freed from #Yemen https://t.co/XkjHw9be24 @MofaOman @MEAIndia… https://t.co/FEzfIdVNy6 — Oman Observer (@OmanObserver) 1505209697000

Father Tom, who hails from Ramapuram in Kottayam

Indian priest abducted by ISIS in Yemen rescued: Sushma Swaraj

NEW DELHI: Kerala priest Father Tom Uzhunnalil, who wasmilitants in Yemen last year, has been rescued, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday.The release of the Indian Christian priest was reportedly secured by Oman , AFP news agency said.Referring to the priest, a report by Oman Observer said: He has been transferred to Muscat from where he will return to his home in Kerala."A statement quoting the state-run Oman News Agency, which published in the Oman Observer, said Father Tom "expressed thanks to God Almighty" following his release."In compliance with the His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Oman in coordination with the Yemeni parties have managed find a Vatican priest. He has been transferred to Muscat from where he will return to his home in Kerala. Tom Uzhunnalil, a Vatican priest, expressed thanks to God Almighty and appreciation to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. He also thanked his brothers and sisters and all relatives and friends who called on God for safety and release," said the state-run news agency's statement., was abducted allegedly by terror group ISIS on March 4 last year, during an attack on an old-age home run by Missionaries of Charity in the Yemeni city of Aden.The Indian priest had been sent to Yemen in 2010. When his five-year term in the country ended, the church "asked him to stay back till another person assumed the charges," said the treasurer of Uzhunnalil Kudumbayogam.Father Tom appealed to the Pope via video after he was kidnapped. The veracity of the video uploaded on Facebook and YouTube couldn't be independently verified, but his relatives said it was indeed Tom in the video."If I were a European priest, I would have been taken more seriously. I am from India. I am perhaps not considered as of much value," said priest Father Tom in one of the videos."I am very sad that nothing has been done seriously in my regard," he added in the video.