Gunmen in police uniforms kidnapped five Britons from a government building in Baghdad on Tuesday and the deaths of 10 U.S. soldiers were announced, making May the deadliest month this year for the U.S. military.
The gunmen seized the Britons from a Finance Ministry building in eastern Baghdad. A ministry employee who witnessed the kidnapping said three computer experts and several of their bodyguards were taken in the daylight raid.
Britain’s Foreign Office in London said five Britons were kidnapped. ”Officials from the British embassy in Baghdad are in urgent contact with the Iraqi authorities to establish the facts and to try to secure a swift resolution,” said a spokesperson.
At least 38 people were killed when a bomb on a parked minibus exploded in central Baghdad on Tuesday and a car bomb exploded in a busy market in a southwestern Shi’ite district.
The US military said 10 soldiers had been killed in Iraq in the past two days, taking the total for May to 114, the deadliest month for US troops since November 2004 when 137 US soldiers were killed.
Two were killed on Monday when their helicopter came down under enemy fire in Diyala province north of Baghdad. A force heading to the crash site was struck by roadside bombs that killed six soldiers.
Two other soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol in southern Baghdad. – Reuters