Gunmen kidnapped 20 men today who were travelling from northern Iraq to Baghdad for medical tests needed to join the army, but the hostages were later freed in an army operation, officers said.
They were seized at Al-Amin restaurant near Baiji, a police lieutenant colonel said, adding that the kidnappers
took them in eight vehicles toward Anbar province, which is home home to various former insurgent strongholds.
A colonel from the army’s 4th Division, which is responsible for the area where the incident occurred,
confirmed that 20 people were kidnapped near Baiji, but did not provide details.
The army officer later said four al-Qaeda members were arrested and the 20 people who were kidnapped were freed, and that they were now at an army base in central Tikrit.
The police officer said the 20 were freed in an army operation about 80 kilometres west of Baiji in which four of
the kidnappers were arrested.
Kidnappings were common during the worst years of sectarian violence in Iraq, but have declined since then.
Violence has also dropped significantly from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks, which usually target security
forces, government officials or members of Iraq’s Shiite majority, remain common.
—————————(AFP)