Iraqi gunmen kidnap Iranian pilgrims, kill one

TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) – Gunmen abducted 11 Iranian
pilgrims, killing one and their Iraqi driver before releasing
three women in the group, one of the freed women said on
Sunday.

The Shi’ite pilgrims were abducted on Friday after visiting
the Imam Ali al-Hadi shrine in Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north
of Baghdad, Maliha Abdul Wahab, 35, told a news briefing called
by the governor of Salahaddin province.

Wahab said seven gunmen stopped their car on the road
between Samarra and Baghdad, forced them out of the vehicle and
handcuffed the men in the group.

She said one pilgrim was shot dead after an altercation
with the kidnappers, and when the Iraqi driver tried to
intervene he was killed as well.

“I recognized two of the gunmen. I saw them during our
praying in Ali al-Hadi,” Wahab said.

She and the two other women in the group were freed in a
deserted area on Saturday, where they were found by an Iraqi
army patrol. Her husband and brother were among the pilgrims,
she said.

The Iraqi army earlier said the kidnapping had taken place
on Saturday and that 12 pilgrims were involved.