Sushma Swaraj
Sushma SwarajIANS

Two Indian teachers who were abducted in 2015 in Libya have been rescued, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted on Thursday. 

"I am happy to inform that T Gopalakrishna (AP) & C BalaramKishan (Telangana) who were captive in Libya since 29 July 2015 have been rescued [sic]," she tweeted. 

Gopalakrishna and Balaramkishan were abducted along with two other colleagues, 37-year-old Laxmikant Ramakrishna from Raichur and 56-year-old Mulbagil Vijay Kumar from Bengaluru, in July 2015 by a group that pledges allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis). Ramakrishna and Kumar were rescued a few days after they were abducted. 

The four were employees of University of Sirte, one of the worst places hit by civil war in northern Libya. The teachers were on their way to the Tripoli airport when they were abducted from a checkpoint only 50 km away from Sirte. They were supposed to catch a flight to India from Tripoli.  

The teachers had been evacuated from Libya in August 2014, but rejoined the university in September 2014 after it re-opened. 

The Islamic state group had taken over major parts of Sirte, and the United States is air-striking their hideouts. The U.S. and Libyan government are working together to banish Isis, also called Islamic State of Iraq and Leviant (Isil), from the region. They have reportedly taken back most of Sirte from the jihadist group.