New Delhi, July 16: Thirty-nine Indians abducted in Iraq by the ISIS three years ago may be lodged in a jail in Badush in northwest Mosul, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Sunday said, and added that her Iraqi counterpart may bring fresh information about them when he visits India July 24.
Swaraj Sunday briefed family members of the abducted men, who are mostly from Punjab, about information gathered by theMinister of State for External Affairs, V K Singh, who was sent to the Gulf nation after its Prime Minister announced the liberation of Mosul from the dreaded terror group ISIS. Swaraj 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 carrying on.
Ministers of state Singh and M J Akbar and senior ministry officials were also present at the meeting with the family members. She said Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari is scheduled to visit India 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.
PTI
