Alwaght- Thirty-nine missing Indian workers, who were taken hostage by ISIS terrorists in the Iraqi city of Mosul, have been killed, New Delhi confirmed.
India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday told the upper house of parliament the workers had been murdered by ISIS terrorist group.
Their bodies had been found in the grave in the village of Badush northwest of the city of Mosul and taken to a local organization for DNA testing. She added that the Iraqi authorities confirmed that 38 samples had matched and that the 39th had a partial match as he didn´t have any immediate family.
The workers were abducted in June 2014 when ISIS terrorists overran large swathes of territory in Iraq and captured Mosul. The Indian government had for years insisted they were believed still alive and the latest announcement sparked criticism from some relatives of the dead.
The grave was found after ISIS terrorists were driven out of the Iraqi city.
The physical remains of the Indians will be repatriated by the government in a special aircraft, the minister told parliament.
One of the workers was able to escape ISIS custody, the minister said.
Last December following intensive operations by the Iraqi Army and Popular Mobilization Forces, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared final victory in the anti-ISIS campaign in the Arab country.
