There is a hope for the 39 Indians abducted in Iraq by the ISIS three years ago. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said they may be lodged in a jail in Badush in northwest Mosul. She said her Iraqi counterpart may bring fresh information about them when he visits India on July 24.
Sushma based her assessment on the information received by the Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh, who visited the Gulf nation after the liberation of Mosul from the dreaded terror group ISIS. Sushma briefed the family members of the abducted men, who are mostly from Punjab, about the safety of the men languish in Iraq.
Sushma said an authoritative official quoting Intelligence sources told Singh the Indians were deployed at a hospital construction site and then shifted to a farm. They were then taken to a jail in Badush in West Mosul, where fighting between the ISIS and Iraqi forces is going on.
Ministers of State Singh and MJ Akbar and senior Ministry officials were also present at the meeting with the family members.
Sushma said Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari is scheduled to visit India on July 24 and may bring updated information about the missing men.
“East Mosul has been completely freed from ISIS and now buildings are being sanitised and authorities are not allowing civilians to go there as there may be bombs and other explosives,” she said.