Kurdish authorities had revealed to The Indian Express in 2014 that they had evidence of mass graves being dug in the area, which they believed could contain the remains of the Indian workers. The Indian workers, Kurdish intelligence believes, were initially held by local Mosul militia with links to ousted dictator Saddam Husain’s Ba’ath party, but then handed over to Islamic State for execution. Those sources included Iraqi businessmen and contractors operating behind Islamic State lines, who were equipped with photographs of the missing workers by the Iraqi Red Crescent, said officials. However, officials conceded that none of the three governments had been able to provide any photographs or other “proofs-of-life” of the missing workers. However, the official added that this assessment was made on the basis of intelligence reports, which could not be corroborated since the territories continued to be held by the Islamic State.

Source: Indian Express June 14, 2016 22:07 UTC