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Turkish construction workers taken hostage in Iraq

by Reuters
Wednesday, 18 June 2014 05:38 GMT

ISTANBUL, June 18 (Reuters) - A group of Turkish construction workers were among some 60 people abducted by Islamist militants near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, less than a week after dozens of other Turkish nationals were taken hostage in Mosul, according to a news report.

Militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized 15 Turkish workers who were building a hospital near the town of Dor, located between Selahaddin and Kirkuk, the Dogan News Agency said, citing a worker who escaped. It was not immediately clear when the abduction took place.

Those abducted also included workers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Turkmenistan, Dogan reported.

ISIL insurgents kidnapped 31 Turkish truck drivers as they overran the northern city of Mosul last week during a lightning advance. They then seized the Turkish consulate in Mosul, holding another 49 people.

ISIL and other Sunni militants have swept through towns in the Tigris valley north of Baghdad in recent days. (Reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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