CHECKPOINTS SET UP BY IRAQI SECURITY FORCES

IraqiIraqi security forces set up checkpoints on Monday in the Dora neighborhood southeast of Baghdad, where media reports have said three US nationals were kidnapped on Friday

According to witnesses, two Iraqi army helicopters were also seen hovering over the district while police SUVs were patrolling the streets.

The US State Department said on Sunday it was working with Iraqi authorities to locate Americans reported missing, without confirming that they had been kidnapped.

our on-line reporter, reported on Sunday that three US nationals had been kidnapped in Dora on Friday. Citing its own sources, it said the Americans were “contractors or trainers” employed by US companies at the Baghdad airport

“We are aware of reports that American citizens are missing in Iraq,” State Department spokesperson  “The safety and security of American citizens overseas is our highest priority.‎

We are working with the full cooperation of the Iraqi authorities to locate and recover the individuals. Due to privacy considerations, I have nothing further.”
U.S. Embassy spokesman Scott Bolz said on Sunday that “We are working in full cooperation with Iraqi authorities to locate the missing Americans.”

An Iraqi police colonel told AFP on condition of anonymity that three Americans and an Iraqi translator were kidnapped in southern Baghdad by militiamen wearing military uniforms.

“We don’t know what their work is,” the colonel said of the Americans.

A spokesman for Baghdad’s Joint Operations Command told The Washington Post that the three citizens were Iraqis who had acquired U.S. citizenship.
The incident comes after a week that has seen a deterioration of security in and around the Iraqi capital after months of relative calm.

The Islamic State group claimed a number of attacks in Baghdad and Diyala province last week that killed more than 50 people, including a high profile attack on a mall in the Iraqi capital.

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