Three Americans kidnapped Friday in Baghdad are being held by an Iranian-backed Shiite militia, according to Iraqi intelligence and US government sources.
Unknown gunmen seized the three on Friday from a private residence in the south-eastern Dora district of Baghdad, Iraqi officials say. They are the first Americans to be abducted in Iraq since the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2011.
“They were abducted because they are Americans, not for personal or financial reasons,” one of the Iraqi sources in Baghdad said.
The three men are employed by a small company that is doing work for General Dynamics Corp, under a larger contract with the U.S. Army, according to a source familiar with the matter.
“Sen. Marco Rubio on Wednesday suggested the three Americans were taken hostage by forces with ties to Iran, in connection with the release of four Americans imprisoned in Iran this weekend,” NBC News reported.
“It now appears that the Americans that were kidnapped in Baghdad – there were Americans kidnapped in Baghdad about 72 hours ago, right as other American hostages were being released — it appears potentially that these Americans were kidnapped by Shia militias,” Rubio said at a town hall in Plymouth, N.H.
“Do you know who Shia militias respond to and answer to? Iran. So, we don’t know all the details yet, but I think it’s highly unusual that at the same time as these American hostages — because that’s what they were — were being released from Iran, we have these individuals being kidnapped.”
According to the Washington Post, some local reports indicated that the individuals were abducted by Shia militias in the area, many of which are backed by Iran.