Gunmen in Iraq kidnap deputy justice minister

BAGHDAD — Gunmen in Baghdad kidnapped an acting deputy justice minister of Iraq on Tuesday and wounded his driver, officials said.

A justice ministry official identified the man seized as Abdulkarim Fares, saying he is director general for financial and administrative affairs at the ministry as well as an acting deputy minister.

A police colonel said black-clad kidnappers in several vehicles stopped his car in the Binook area in the northeast of the city.

He said the driver was wounded by gunfire when he tried to intervene.

His "protection [force] was released, and now he is the only one kidnapped", interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan told AFP, without saying how many guards he had.

The kidnapping came just four days after gunmen abducted 18 Turkish employees of a major construction firm in Sadr City, south of Binook.

The identity of the kidnappers in both cases is unknown.

Kidnappings for political reasons or money are a persistent problem in Baghdad, with Shiite militias or their affiliates seen as the main culprits.

Baghdad turned to mostly Shiite volunteer forces for support as the Daesh terror group advanced towards the capital in June last year, and they have played a key role in halting and then reversing the jihadists' gains.

But in doing so, the government also further empowered Shiite militias, some with chequered human rights records, and spurred the creation of new ones, allowing them to act with near impunity despite their officially falling under government command.

Daesh has kidnapped thousands of people in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, and frequently targets Iraqi Shiites with bloody bombings in the capital.

But a daytime raid to seize a senior government official in a Shiite-majority area of Baghdad would be a sharp departure from its usual operations.