BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – A total of five civilians were kidnapped Saturday in Iraq's central province of Salahudin by armed men who were believed to be Daesh terrorists, a provincial police source said.
The incident took place in the morning when the five civilians were on a trip in Sdeirah area in the east of the city of Shirqat, some 280 kilometers north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Colonel Mohammed Khalaf from Salahudin provincial police told Xinhua.
A friend of one of the kidnapped men told the police that he had received a phone call from an unknown person on the number of his friend, who appeared to be one of the kidnappers, informing him about the abduction before disconnecting the line, Khalaf said without giving further details.
The security forces in the area launched an investigation into the incident and started a search operation in Sdeirah area, Khalaf added.