ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi security forces arrested five suspected kidnappers in separate operations in Babil and Maysan provinces, the interior ministry announced on Wednesday. “The security forces raided the house where the girl was being held, and arrested two suspects involved in the kidnapping,” read a statement from the Iraqi interior ministry regarding a kidnapping in the al-Kifl subdistrict of Babil. The statement further noted that the suspects, who “confessed to the crime,” were arrested in accordance with Article 421 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which criminalized the unlawful detainment or deprivation of a person’s liberty without proper authorization from a competent authority. Earlier in the day, the ministry announced that police in Maysan province arrested three kidnappers in Amarah city. The suspects, who were reportedly in a vehicle, were detained, and a pistol was confiscated. “The operation was carried out based on intelligence information indicating that a Kia driver was kidnapped by people driving an Elantra,” the statement read.
