India backs Iraq in combating terrorism: envoy

India today voiced its support to Iraq in its fight against terrorism after New Delhi said that 38 Indians, abducted by the ISIS terror group from the war-torn country's second largest city Mosul, have been killed.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told Parliament in New Delhi that the 39 Indians abducted by Islamic State in Mosul were dead and their bodies have been recovered.

India's ambassador to Iraq Pradeep Singh Rajpurohit said: "It is indeed a moment of deep grief and sadness for us to learn that a group of Indian workers in Mosul have become victims of the menace of terrorism. We express our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families in India.

"Out of the 39 missing Indians, until now, DNA of a total of 38 human remains have matched with the DNA obtained from the blood samples of the relatives from the states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal which were handed over by us to the forensic department".

He told reporters here that India strongly condemns terrorism in all forms and manifestations and stands in solidarity with the government and the people of Iraq in their fight against terrorism.

The Associated Press quoted the envoy as saying that the bodies will be sent back to India "in a couple of weeks or so".

It may take up to 10 days to bring back the bodies of all 39 Indians killed in Iraq as there will be legal processes involved, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh said in New Delhi.

As many as 40 Indians were originally abducted by ISIS in 2014 from Mosul but one of them escaped by posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh, Swaraj said.

The remaining 39 Indians were taken to Badoosh and killed, she said.

Swaraj said the mass grave had exactly 39 bodies, with distinctive features like long hair, non-Iraqi shoes and IDs. The bodies were sent to Baghdad for DNA testing.

DNA testing by Martyrs Foundation established the identity of 38 Indians while there has been 70 per cent matching of the DNA for the 39th person, she added.

ISIS, led by its elusive leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had seized a third of Iraq's territory in 2014, before being pushed back by security forces backed by a US-led coalition.

They are accused of mass killings of innocent civilians including many foreigners.