Death of 39 Indians by ISIS in Iraq: How it was found out that the abducted were killed
Years after the news of abduction of 40 Indians by the terrorist group Islamic State, External Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj informed in the Rajya Sabha that the 39 Indians who were missing have been killed by the terrorists. It has been confirmed after DNA testing of dead bodies found in Badoosh.
Forty Indians were abducted from Mosul, Iraq in 2014 but one of them escaped posing as a Muslim. In July 2017, Swaraj had said that she had no proof to declare that those missing were killed. “If I mislead anyone, what advantage would I gain? What ulterior motive do I have? It is easy for me to declare them dead. Unless I get concrete evidence of their being killed, I will continue to search for them. Because if a person is alive and we declare him dead, it is a sin and I will not commit this sin,” Swaraj had told the Lok Sabha.
A search operation led that the remaining 39 Indians were taken to Badoosh and killed by the terror outfit IS. According to Swaraj, the search found a mound in Badoosh where some bodies were buried by the IS, Locals said. It has been confirmed through the deep penetration radars that the mound actually was a mass grave, she said. Then, the Indian authorities requested their Iraqi counterpart to exhume the bodies.
The bodies found in the mass grave had exactly 39 bodies with distinctive features like long hair, non-Iraqi shoes and IDs. Then, the bodies were sent to Baghdad for DNA testing at Martyrs Foundation. The foundation established identity of 38 Indians while 70 percent matching of the DNA for the 39th person.
Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh will be flying to Iraq to take back the bodies through special flight.
Earlier in July 2017, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari had said that they had not any knowledge of whether the Indians were alive or dead saying that their last known location, the prison at Badush were destroyed by the Islamic State.
