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Iraqis point fingers over spurt of kidnappings

Sunni and Shiite officials trade accusations over recent forced disappearances of Iraqi civilians, which has fueled more sectarian strife in the country.
Iraqi fighters from Hashid Shaabi take part in a training at Makhmur camp in Iraq December 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RTX2UHVF
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BAGHDAD — The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights reported May 3 that more than a thousand civilians were forcibly disappeared in the battle to regain control over Mosul that began Oct. 17, and in the Anbar operations that were launched July 13, 2015. This is in line with statements made by Yehya al-Mohammadi, a member of the Anbar provincial council, who said in a press statement April 25, “The fate of hundreds of the kidnapped people in the Razaza area, south of the governorate, is still unknown.”

In the same context, the governor of al-Hadar district in Mosul, Ali al-Ahmadi, said in a press statement May 2 that “160 young men were kidnapped while migrating from the district.”

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