Two Filipinas abducted in northern Iraq

Cars and vehicles are seen near the reopened Erbil-Mosul road after Peshmerga forces, loyal to northern Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (IKRG), have closed the main roads that linking the both cities in Erbil, Iraq on 12 October 2017 [Yunus Keleş/Anadolu Agency]

Two Filipinas were taken hostage by unidentified gunmen in northern Iraq, according to an Iraqi police officer on Saturday.

The two were kidnapped when their car broke down on a road linking the capital Baghdad to Erbil in northern Iraq, police captain Hamed al-Obeidi told Anadolu Agency.

“Two gunmen forced the two girls out of the car at gunpoint and took them to an unidentified location,” he said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

Recent weeks have seen similar abductions on the Baghdad-Erbil road, amid a rising activity by Daesh militants in the area.

Late last year, officials in Baghdad declared that Daesh’s military capacity had been all but destroyed. It appears, however, that the notorious terrorist group still maintains an active presence in the country, especially in northern and western Iraq.

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