Brazen kidnappings

last updated 8 January 2015

Baghdad

Men dressed as cops kidnapped 50 people from a bus depot in Baghdad this week. Dozens of gunmen swooped into the offices of several transport firms and began grabbing passengers, employees, and even street vendors. They put bags over the captives’ heads and loaded them into pickup trucks. The whole operation took minutes. Witnesses said the gunmen were dressed in police uniforms, easily purchasable around Baghdad, and wearing ski masks. Kidnapping is reaching epidemic proportions in Iraq. Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, more than 400 foreigners and up to 10,000 Iraqis have been abducted. Nearly 20 percent of those taken are killed.