18 Turkish construction workers kidnapped in Baghdad

Turkey on Wednesday confirmed that 18 Turkish construction workers have been kidnapped by unknown individuals in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

"Eighteen Turkish citizens working for a construction company in Baghdad have been kidnapped," Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told reporters. "We are in close contact with the Iraqi (interior) ministry and hope the incident will end positively."

Ministry spokesperson Brigadier General Saad Maan told Reuters that the workers had been captured in the Shia-majority district of Habibya in the northeast of the city.

Police sources also told Reuters that the gunmen had worn military vehicles and arrived in a convoy of black sports-utility vehicles.

No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

Last year 46 Turkish citizens were captured by the Islamic State (IS) in Mosul following the fall of the city to the group in June.

They were later released and returned to Turkey following what Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called “intense efforts that lasted days and weeks”.

Turkey has earned IS’s wrath in recent weeks, with the group blasting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “satan” in a video released in social media.

On Wednesday they put out a “warrant” for his death.