Five Keralites working in Iraq are believed to be missing, an Indian diplomat said on Monday.

"About 1,300 Indians are working in Iraq right now and they are safe and sound. But we are not able to get information about five Keralites…" Kuldip Singh, charge d'affaires, Indian embassy, said in Jordan.

"Telephone communication from outside Iraq is very difficult but people in Iraq are able to contact abroad. So if they give us a call, we can try to locate them," he said.

The Indians have been mostly recruited from Kuwait, Jordan and India and are working at different places, including a military camp some 500 kilometres off Baghdad, Singh said.

Even for diplomats in Baghdad it is difficult to travel to locate the Indians, as they are not allowed to travel freely because of security risks, he said.