Indians in captivity in Iraq safe, says Sushma

Indians, held captive by suspected Sunni militants in Iraq, are safe, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said Monday.

Talking to media persons here, she said 6,593 Indians had been evacuated from different parts of the war-torn Iraq.

Answering a query on Indians in captivity in the country, she said the government had come to know from indirect sources that the Indians were safe.

As many as 39 Indian workers are being held hostage by the Islamic State militant organisation in Mosul town for the past three months.

The men were working for a Turkish construction company in Mosul when they were abducted after the militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, who now call themselves the Islamic State, overran the area in June.