NEW DELHI, July 10 (Xinhua) -- India on Monday said that Iraq has assured its cooperation in locating 39 Indian nationals who were kidnapped by Islamic State militants in Mosul in 2014, a day after Baghdad reclaimed the city from the dreaded terrorists.
The Indian External Affairs Ministry said that as soon as the announcement of liberation of Mosul was made by Iraqi government, the Indian government activated various channels to locate the kidnapped Indians.
"Iraqi authorities have conveyed that all cooperation would be extended in this regard," the ministry said.
In June, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said during a meeting with families of the kidnapped Indians that a source in Iraq provided information about a group of Indian men holed up in a church in Mosul.
"They are alive and everything possible was being done to ensure their safe return," she had reportedly reassured the family members.
After a nine-month battle that caused the displacement of an estimated 920,000 people, Iraq on Sunday announced that its army had retaken the city of Mosul from the Islamic State. Some militants reportedly threw themselves into Tigris as they tried to flee the battlefield.
