An Iraqi official said gunmen abducted up to 26 Qatari hunters in southern Iraq.
Ahmed Manfi, a member of the Samawah provincial council, told The Associated Press that the gunmen raided the hunters’ camp in a remote desert area at dawn Wednesday, snatching between 19 and 26 Qataris.
Manfi added that two Iraqi intelligence officers were also abducted, but were later released.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Samawah is located on the Euphrates River, about 370 kilometers (230 miles) southeast of Baghdad.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
Hunters from Gulf states, mainly Qatar, often visit Iraq’s western and southern desert areas for hunting and purchasing falcons. Iraqi authorities approve the expeditions and provide protective forces.
“We are talking about at least 100 gunmen armed with light and medium weapons broke into the Qatari camp and abducted the hunters at around 3 am local time on Wednesday,” a police colonel said, according to The Telegraph.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
