Iraqi army raids militia HQ suspecting link to Turkish abductions (Dif-Source)
9/4/15
Iraqi security forces raided the Baghdad headquarters of a powerful Iranian-backed Shiite militia overnight, following suspicions that Turkish hostages were being held in the area, security sources and officials said on Friday.
Gunmen in military uniforms seized 18 Turkish workers on Wednesday from a sports stadium they were building in northeastern Baghdad, in what Ankara said appeared to have been a targeted kidnapping.
The militia, Kataib Hezbollah, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Baghdad has struggled to rein in Shiite armed groups, many of which fought the US occupation and are now seen as a critical deterrent against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levent (ISIL) group, which has vowed to march on the capital after seizing large swathes of the north and west last summer.
The city has also seen a proliferation in recent years of well-armed criminal gangs involved in killings, kidnappings and extortion.
Diplomats have said that Turkey could suffer reprisals after abandoning months of reticence to launch air strikes against ISIL in neighboring Syria, and open its bases to a US-led coalition fighting the militants.
Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioğlu said, during a press conference in Parliament on Thursday, that the Turkish nationals taken in Baghdad had been specifically picked by the attackers. “It is not ISIL or the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK] but we consider it to be an ordinary kidnapping by another group,” he said.
Turkish officials announced on Wednesday that masked men in military uniforms had kidnapped 18 Turkish citizens who were employed by Nurol İnşaat, a Turkish construction company contracted to build a sports complex in the sprawling Shiite district of Sadr City. The kidnappers stormed the construction site, where the workers were sleeping in caravans, breaking down doors and disarming the guards before taking the workers away.
Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, said security forces had come under fire on Thursday night when they tried to raid a house on Palestine Street in the eastern district of Mohandeseen. Intelligence had indicated there the presence of a member of the group involved in the Turks' abduction, he said.
Hadithi would not confirm or deny whether the suspect had been apprehended, and would not comment on his possible affiliation with Kataib Hezbollah or any other group.
A spokesman for the Hashid Shaabi, a government body overseeing armed groups fighting ISIL -- including Kataib -- denied the militia had any connection to the missing Turks.
Karim al-Nuri said "a routine search" had escalated into a quarrel that left one soldier dead and two militia members wounded.
"The friction started due to accusations that the Turkish workers were kidnapped by Kataib. Following the security forces' search, this allegation was proven wrong," Nuri said.
A security source said the army was searching the headquarters and surrounding buildings in predominantly the Shiite neighborhood but had not yet found any trace of the Turkish hostages.
Baghdad operations command, which is responsible for security in the city, did not respond to requests for comment.
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9/4/15
Iraqi security forces raided the Baghdad headquarters of a powerful Iranian-backed Shiite militia overnight, following suspicions that Turkish hostages were being held in the area, security sources and officials said on Friday.
Gunmen in military uniforms seized 18 Turkish workers on Wednesday from a sports stadium they were building in northeastern Baghdad, in what Ankara said appeared to have been a targeted kidnapping.
The militia, Kataib Hezbollah, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Baghdad has struggled to rein in Shiite armed groups, many of which fought the US occupation and are now seen as a critical deterrent against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levent (ISIL) group, which has vowed to march on the capital after seizing large swathes of the north and west last summer.
The city has also seen a proliferation in recent years of well-armed criminal gangs involved in killings, kidnappings and extortion.
Diplomats have said that Turkey could suffer reprisals after abandoning months of reticence to launch air strikes against ISIL in neighboring Syria, and open its bases to a US-led coalition fighting the militants.
Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioğlu said, during a press conference in Parliament on Thursday, that the Turkish nationals taken in Baghdad had been specifically picked by the attackers. “It is not ISIL or the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK] but we consider it to be an ordinary kidnapping by another group,” he said.
Turkish officials announced on Wednesday that masked men in military uniforms had kidnapped 18 Turkish citizens who were employed by Nurol İnşaat, a Turkish construction company contracted to build a sports complex in the sprawling Shiite district of Sadr City. The kidnappers stormed the construction site, where the workers were sleeping in caravans, breaking down doors and disarming the guards before taking the workers away.
Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, said security forces had come under fire on Thursday night when they tried to raid a house on Palestine Street in the eastern district of Mohandeseen. Intelligence had indicated there the presence of a member of the group involved in the Turks' abduction, he said.
Hadithi would not confirm or deny whether the suspect had been apprehended, and would not comment on his possible affiliation with Kataib Hezbollah or any other group.
A spokesman for the Hashid Shaabi, a government body overseeing armed groups fighting ISIL -- including Kataib -- denied the militia had any connection to the missing Turks.
Karim al-Nuri said "a routine search" had escalated into a quarrel that left one soldier dead and two militia members wounded.
"The friction started due to accusations that the Turkish workers were kidnapped by Kataib. Following the security forces' search, this allegation was proven wrong," Nuri said.
A security source said the army was searching the headquarters and surrounding buildings in predominantly the Shiite neighborhood but had not yet found any trace of the Turkish hostages.
Baghdad operations command, which is responsible for security in the city, did not respond to requests for comment.
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