External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said that the Indians who have been missing in Iraq since 2014 were probably in a prison in Badush, where fighting is still going on between Iraqi forces and the Islamic State, ANI reported. Swaraj, who met families of the missing Indians, said that as soon as the fighting in West Mosul is over, further information could be available.

“I have already met them [families of missing Indians] several times, but this time the situation was different as the Iraqi Prime Minister recently announced that Mosul has been liberated from Islamic State,” Swaraj told reporters. “The very same day I asked [MoS Ministry of External Affairs] VK Singh to go to Erbil and personally check where the missing Indians are and how can they be rescued.”

She said VK Singh was informed that the missing Indians are probably in a jail in Badush.

Swaraj added that Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari would be visiting India on July 24 and will provide more information.