At least 17 Turkish workers have been abducted in Iraq. <br /><br /> They were building a sports complex in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City.<br /><br /> Security officials described masked gunmen in military uniforms bundling the workers into vehicles and speeding off. <br /><br /> Iraq’s interior minister said the workers were taken in the district of Habibiya.<br /><br /> Turkey’s foreign ministry said Turks were specifically targeted. <br /><br /> Diplomats had feared Turkey would suffer reprisals after launching attacks against ISIL fighters in neighbouring Syria and opening its bases to a US-led coalition fighting the group. <br /><br /> There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s (September 2) abductions. <br /><br /> A police colonel said that 17 Turks were taken, while an interior ministry official put the number seized at 18.<br /><br /> Last year 46 Turkish citizens were seized by ISIL militants in the Iraqi city of Mosul. They were released unharmed after three months.
