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Gunmen Abduct Dozens In Baghdad

November 14, 2006 -- The chairman of the Iraqi parliament's Education Committee, Alaa Makki, has said dozens -- between 100 and 150 -- of employees of a government research institute in Baghdad have been abducted.

"A group of terrorists in military uniforms, in the uniforms of police commandos, stormed into the Directorate of Scholarships and Cultural Relations at the Ministry of Higher Education and the Directorate of Reconstruction and Projects, at 10 a.m.," Makki said. "They said that they were from the Commission on Public Integrity and that they had lists of [wanted people]. So they arrested, or rather kidnapped, all the men they found there. They kidnapped deputy directors, all employees, assistants and cleaners, leaving nobody behind."

Iraqi police say the people were taken away by unknown gunmen wearing police uniforms claiming to be on an official anticorruption mission.

"It was breakfast time," one witness, who asked to be identified as Walid, told Reuters. "The [employees] were having their breakfast when [the gunmen] stormed the building. They did not come through the doors, but from over the walls. They came from over the walls."

Police say the assailants forced their captives into vehicles and drove them to an unknown destination. They say the whole operation took about 20 minutes.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

In a separate incident, police say seven Iraqis were killed today by gunmen who stopped a minibus on a road northeast of Baghdad. Police say the attack appeared to be motivated by sectarian differences.

In other violence, Iraqi media report that a U.S. military raid in the western town of Al-Ramadi has left at least 30 Iraqis dead and several others wounded.

Many of the casualties were believed to be civilians. Several homes were reportedly destroyed in the raid.

There was no official comment from U.S. or Iraqi authorities.

(AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)

Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org