Kidnapped child freed, explosives seized in Basra

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: Police forces freed a girl child taken hostage and arrested her kidnappers while other forces seized explosives near the border checkpoint of al-Shalamja, eastern Basra, an official security source in the province said on Thursday. “A three-man gang who kidnapped a girl child was captured while the hostage was freed,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “Another police force seized 40 kg of TNT near a border checkpoint in Shalamja, (30 km) eastern Basra,” the source added. The oil-rich port city of Basra lies 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (P) 1