MoS V.K. Singh to bring mortal remains of Indians killed in Iraq

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday that MoS External Affairs General V.K. Singh will go to Mosul in Iraq to bring back the mortal remains of the 39 Indian nationals killed there.

While speaking at the Rajya Sabha, Swaraj explained that the plane carrying the mortal remains will first go to Amritsar, then to Patna and Kolkata.

The EAM earlier confirmed on Tuesday that all the 39 Indians, who went missing in Mosul in the year 2014, were killed by the Islamic State (IS).

She further said that the mortal remains were sent to Baghdad. For verification of bodies, DNA samples of the deceased relatives were sent in the Iraqi capital, she added.

"We used a deep penetration satellite to see a mass grave. It had exactly 39 bodies with distinctive features like long hair, non-Iraqi shoes, and IDs. We requested that the bodies be brought out exhumed. This confirmed the death of all 39 Indian nationals," Swaraj informed.

She further said that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had got information that DNA samples of 38 people have matched and the DNA of the one person has matched only 70 percent.

The 39 persons, most of whom hailed from Punjab, were working on projects near Mosul when they were kidnapped during their evacuation.