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| Masked Gunmen Kidnap 17 Turkish Workers in Baghdad | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| BAGHDAD — In the early morning darkness on Wednesday, masked gunmen in military uniforms rolled up in more than a dozen black sport utility vehicles to a construction site on the edge of Baghdad, subdued the guards, and roused 17 Turkish workers and their Iraqi translator from sleep and kidnapped them. | BAGHDAD — In the early morning darkness on Wednesday, masked gunmen in military uniforms rolled up in more than a dozen black sport utility vehicles to a construction site on the edge of Baghdad, subdued the guards, and roused 17 Turkish workers and their Iraqi translator from sleep and kidnapped them. |
| Iraqi security officials spent the day scrambling to find the workers, who had been building a soccer stadium near Sadr City, a vast and impoverished Shiite neighborhood, but by nightfall there was no word on where they were being held or who had abducted them. | Iraqi security officials spent the day scrambling to find the workers, who had been building a soccer stadium near Sadr City, a vast and impoverished Shiite neighborhood, but by nightfall there was no word on where they were being held or who had abducted them. |
| The episode evoked the memory of last summer, when Islamic State militants seized dozens of Turkish diplomats and consular workers in the northern city of Mosul, but in Wednesday’s case, it was far more likely that the abductions were the work of a criminal gang or a militia seeking ransom, officials said. | The episode evoked the memory of last summer, when Islamic State militants seized dozens of Turkish diplomats and consular workers in the northern city of Mosul, but in Wednesday’s case, it was far more likely that the abductions were the work of a criminal gang or a militia seeking ransom, officials said. |
| The Sunni militants of the Islamic State frequently carry out car bombings and sometimes assassinations in Baghdad, but they are not seen as capable of carrying out an operation like Wednesday’s in the heart of a Shiite enclave of the capital. But kidnap-for-ransom schemes carried out by bands of criminals and Shiite militias are common here. | The Sunni militants of the Islamic State frequently carry out car bombings and sometimes assassinations in Baghdad, but they are not seen as capable of carrying out an operation like Wednesday’s in the heart of a Shiite enclave of the capital. But kidnap-for-ransom schemes carried out by bands of criminals and Shiite militias are common here. |
| One avenue being explored by officials is that Wednesday’s kidnappings were related to a land dispute over the stadium project, because some local residents, including wealthy ones, were forced by the Iraqi government to give up their properties. | One avenue being explored by officials is that Wednesday’s kidnappings were related to a land dispute over the stadium project, because some local residents, including wealthy ones, were forced by the Iraqi government to give up their properties. |
| Officials in Ankara, the Turkish capital, and here in Baghdad gave brief statements confirming the kidnappings and said that the two countries were working closely to resolve the matter. Nurol Holding, the Turkish construction company that employed the workers, also gave a brief statement, saying the abductions had been carried out at about 3 a.m. | Officials in Ankara, the Turkish capital, and here in Baghdad gave brief statements confirming the kidnappings and said that the two countries were working closely to resolve the matter. Nurol Holding, the Turkish construction company that employed the workers, also gave a brief statement, saying the abductions had been carried out at about 3 a.m. |
| On Wednesday afternoon, the police guarding the site said they had no information. A plainclothes intelligence agent on the scene, who had a pistol in his waistband and said he was working for the office of the prime minister, had arrived hoping to find the passports of the abducted workers but was told by the police officers that they were not there. | On Wednesday afternoon, the police guarding the site said they had no information. A plainclothes intelligence agent on the scene, who had a pistol in his waistband and said he was working for the office of the prime minister, had arrived hoping to find the passports of the abducted workers but was told by the police officers that they were not there. |