Fears for kidnapped police as 10 killed by bomb

THERE were fears last night for the lives of 31 Iraqi policemen who were kidnapped yesterday as a car bomb killed 10 people in Baghdad.

They were abducted on Sunday when gunmen stormed the hotel they were staying at in the town of Rutba, near the Jordanian border, a police spokesman said. A policeman, who said he was beaten but not kidnapped, said around 20 armed men attacked the hotel, covering the captives’ heads with black bags and tying their hands before dragging them away.

Insurgents have repeatedly targeted new members of the Iraqi security forces that the US military has been training. On October 23, gunmen ambushed a group of Iraqi soldiers returning home from a training course on a road east of Baghdad. Around 50 of the soldiers - who were unarmed - were murdered.