Baghdad: On Monday, Iraqi officials confirmed that three United States (US) citizens had been reported missing in Baghdad, and that it was investigating reports they were kidnapped. Iraqi security forces set up checkpoints early on Monday in the Dora neighborhood southeast of Baghdad. A media reports have said three United States citizens were captured on Friday, witnesses said.

A senior police officer said on condition of anonymity, “We have no clear indication about the circumstances of their disappearance”. Two Iraqi army helicopters were seen hovering over the district while police SUVs patrolled the streets. The U.S. State Department said on Sunday it was working with Iraqi authorities to locate Americans reported missing, without confirming that they had been kidnapped.

Dubai-based news channel Al Arabiya reported on Sunday that three United States nationals had been kidnapped in Dora on Friday. Citing its own sources, it said the Americans were “contractors or trainers” employed by U.S. companies at the Baghdad airport.