Not sure whether 39 missing Indians in Mosul are alive or not, says Iraq's foreign minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari

Iraq’s foreign minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Monday said that his government has no substantial evidence whether the 39 Indians that the Islamic State had kidnapped in 2014 are alive or dead, ANI reported.

Have no substantial evidence that they were killed/still alive, can't give anything in that regard: Ibrahim al-Jaafari on 39 missing Indians pic.twitter.com/ERzkIv0jBV

— ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2017

Al-Jaafari who is on a five-day visit to India , starting Monday, however, said that his government is trying their best to trace the 39 Indians who were earlier believed to be trapped in Mosul's Badush jail. According to The Indian Express, there were reports on Saturday claiming that the prison was reduced to a rubble during the fighting between the Iraqi coalition forces and Islamic State. [caption id=“attachment_3850741” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Sushma Swaraj and Iraq’s foreign minister Ibrahim al-Jaafri. PTI[/caption] Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh, was sent to Iraq days after the Iraq’s prime minister Haider al-Abadi had officially announced victory in the fight to liberate Mosul. Swaraj had told the family members that an Iraqi official quoting intelligence sources had told Singh that the kidnapped Indians (mostly from Punjab) were deployed at a hospital construction site and then shifted to a farm before they were put in a jail in Badush. Al-Jaafari, is on a visit to India from July 24 to July 28, to discuss bilateral relations between India and Iraq met external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday