Mosul tragedy: Plane carrying mortal remains of 38 Indians lands in Amritsar

— By FPJ Web Desk | Apr 02, 2018 03:38 pm

According to latest news special flight carrying mortal remains of 38 Indians killed in Iraq’s Mosul landed in Amritsar. Later, on Sunday State for External Affairs VK Singh left India, with a special flight to bring back the mortals. 27 of the 38 bodies will be deboarded in Amritsar and will be sent to their respective homes, and the plane will move to Patna.

The militants initially abducted 40 workers. One managed to escape, while the presumed remains of another have yet to be positively identified. Authorities are awaiting DNA samples from a first-degree relative. The workers, most from northern India, had been employed by a construction company operating near Mosul. Around 10,000 Indians lived and worked in Iraq at the time. IS may have viewed the workers as polytheists deserving of death because of their Hindu or Sikh faith.

IS swept across northern and central Iraq in 2014, eventually seizing a third of the country. Iraqi forces backed by a US-led coalition eventually drove the militants from all the territory under their control in a grueling three-year campaign. The militants are still carrying out insurgent-style attacks. Dozens of mass graves have been found in areas held by the extremist group, which boasted about massacring its enemies and posted videos and photos of many of the mass killings online. Iraq has only managed to excavate a few of the sites due to a lack of funding and specialized staff.