Gunmen who kidnapped 30 people at a Red Crescent office in Baghdad yesterday have freed 17 hostages, an official of the humanitarian group said today.
Maazen Abdulla, secretary-general of the Iraqi Red Crescent, said the victims were released unharmed in different parts of Baghdad yesterday and today.
"Most of them are employees of the Red Crescent," Abdulla said, adding that two Iraqi security guards who work at the Dutch embassy adjacent to the Red Crescent offices were among those released.
In the latest mass kidnapping in Baghdad, gunmen wearing police uniforms stormed the branch of the Red Crescent office in central Karrada, separated men from women and took off with their hostages.
Iraq's capital is plagued by daily kidnappings, many of which are carried out by armed groups on either side of the communal conflict between majority Shias and Sunni Arabs.
The Iraqi Red Crescent, which works with the International Committee of the Red Cross has said it has felt pressure from militant groups
The Iraqi Red Crescent, the only Iraqi aid agency working in Iraq's 18 provinces, has 1,000 staff and 200,000 volunteers.