Iraq hostages 'freed by police'

BBC

All of the hostages seized in a raid by gunmen on a Baghdad higher education facility have been released, Iraqi officials say.
A government spokesman told the BBC that the hostages were freed in a number of police raids across the city.

Gunmen dressed in uniforms similar to those worn by Iraqi police abducted dozens of people.

Five top officers were later arrested - including the police chief of Karrada district where the abductions occurred.

About 20 of the abductees had been released earlier on Tuesday evening.

The rest of the hostages were said to have been freed shortly before midnight in Baghdad (2100 GMT), according to presidential security adviser Wafiq al-Sammarai.

Initial estimates had suggested that more than 100 people had been seized, but that was later revised down throughout the day.

Reports said that there were about 40 still in captivity when the police operation set them free.

Some of the men released earlier in the evening said they had not been taken far, and had certainly not left Baghdad.

They were seized by at least 20 gunmen who posed as interior ministry police to seal off the street and gain entry to the higher education ministry.

They wore uniforms recently issued to officers which were thought to be difficult to copy.

The attackers stormed the education ministry's research department, locked women in a room and took the men away.

It was the latest attack to target Iraq's academics, who are increasingly fleeing the country in the face of the violence. .......