Kidnapped Yazidi girl released, southwest of Mosul city: Commander
Representational photo
“The girl was released during the displacement of Iraqi families from a village in Hatra city,” Shafaq News quoted Commander of the 61st brigade of al-Hashd al-Shaabi Munif al-Shammari as saying.
The girl was kidnapped by an Islamic State militant, he said, adding that the kidnapper’s two brothers were arrested.
On Monday, Islamic State militants freed a kidnapped citizen in Diyala province after his family paid a $50,000 ransom.
“IS militants had kidnapped the citizen from his house in Jalawla Town in Diyala province two weeks ago,” local sources told Al-Ghad Press.
The sources added that the abducted citizen was released after his family sold their farm to pay the ransom.
Iraqi officials fear that kidnapping cases are affecting investments in Iraq, where these cases have become a threat to businesses, their employees and investors. This could lead businesses to move or avoid the country.
In the chaos of 2003, when the US-led coalition invaded Iraq, and at the peak of the civil war in 2006 and 2007, kidnapping cases increased and gangs proliferated, which led to the emergence of the prominent abduction groups and organized crime concept.