Govt sources say abducted Indians in Iraq still alive: Sushma Swaraj

New Delhi: The government on Friday said it has not given up hope on the Indians missing in Iraq, and added that the reports of them having been killed are not confirmed.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said one of the captives, Harjeet Singh who managed to escape, had claimed that all others were taken to a forest and shot, using ISIS, another name for the militant group Islamic State.

“Lone escapee from ISIS captivity Harjit Singh is safe in protective care of governmentm” she told the house.

“There are contradictions in the story Singh told… It is logical not to accept the statement. We have got six sources which said they have not been killed,” Sushma Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha.

“We have got not just oral but written messages that say they are alive,” she said, adding that the content of the letter cannot be disclosed.

Swaraj also said that two officers well-versed in Arabic have been appointed to track this in Iraq.

“For the sake of hope, we have to keep the search on,” said the minister.

Around 40 Indian men continue to be missing in Iraq after they were abducted by the Islamic State.

Mosul was overrun by militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, who now call themselves the Islamic State, in June. The Islamic State militants have overrun large swathes of area in northern Iraq and are currently on the verge of taking over Mosul Dam, thus controlling the source of water and electricity.

Earlier, 46 Indian nurses who were stranded in Tikrit were set free by the militants after hectic negotiations. India has flown home hundreds of Indians from Iraq following the surge by the militants.

With inputs from IANS