Foreign hostages in Iraq


Members of the Iraqi insurgency began taking foreign hostages in Iraq beginning in April 2004. Since then, in a dramatic instance of Islamist kidnapping they have taken captive more than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis; among them, dozens of hostages were killed and others rescued or freed. In 2004, executions of captives were often filmed, and many were beheaded. However, the number of the recorded killings decreased significantly. Many hostages remain missing with no clue as to their whereabouts. The United States Department of State Hostage Working Group was organized by the U.S. Embassy, Baghdad, in the summer of 2004 to monitor foreign hostages in Iraq.
The motives for these kidnappings include:
The following is a list of known civilian foreign hostages in Iraq.

Coalition

Australia

2 Released/Rescued

Bulgaria

2 Killed

Czech Republic

3 Released

Denmark

1 Killed

Italy

4 Killed

6 Released

Japan

2 Killed

3 Released

Macedonia

3 Killed

2 Released

The Philippines

2 Released

Poland

2 Released

Romania

3 Released

South Korea

1 Killed

Ukraine

5 Released

United Kingdom

5 Killed

6 Released

United States

11 Killed

6 Released/Escaped

5 Unknown

Non-coalition

Algeria

2 Killed

Austria

1 Killed

Bangladesh

1 Released

Brazil

1 Killed

Canada

1 Killed

6 Released/Escaped

1 Unknown

The People's Republic of China

15 Released

Cyprus

1 Released

Egypt

5 Killed

16 Released

1 Unknown

France

4 Released

Germany

5 Released

1 Unknown

India

49 Released

39 killed

Forty Indians — from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal — went missing in June 2014 after Mosul fell to the Islamic State. In 2015, one of them, Harjit Masih, managed to flee from the clutches of Islamic State and said all other Indians were killed. But the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj refused to buy his claims then. In July last year, she said she would declare the missing persons dead until she had a concrete evidence.
Sushma Swaraj had last year informed the Parliament that "sources who gave the government the confidence of not abandoning the search for the abducted Indians in Iraq include a head of state and a foreign minister of another country.” She had then refused to disclose the identity of the sources, citing “diplomatic confidentiality.”
On 20 March 2018, Sushma Swaraj declared in the parliament that Thirty-nine missing Indian workers, who were taken hostage by ISIL in the Iraqi city of Mosul, have been killed. "I have concrete proof that 39 Indians have been killed," Swaraj said about the Indians who were abducted by ISIL in 2014. "We wanted to give the families closure," she said. The physical remains of the Indians will be repatriated by the government in a special aircraft, the minister told parliament.

Indonesia

4 Released

Iran

7 Released

Ireland

1 Killed

1 Released

Israel

1 Released

Jordan

2 Released

6 Unknown

Kenya

3 Released

2 Unknown

Lebanon

3 Released

Morocco

2 Killed

Nepal

12 Killed

1 Released

Palestine

1 Unknown

Pakistan

2 Killed

13 Released

Russia

4 Killed

5 Released

Somalia

1 Released

South Africa

4 Unknown

Sri Lanka

1 Released

Sudan

6 Killed

9 Released

Sweden

1 Released

Switzerland

2 Released

Syria

1 Released

Turkey

4 Killed

6 Released

United Arab Emirates

1 Released