BAGHDAD, April 15: Unidentified men have taken 60 people hostage in an Iraqi town near Baghdad and are threatening to kill them unless Shias leave, said an official who said he was contacted by residents there.

“People from the town called me begging the Iraqi government to save their relatives who are hostages. They told me there are at least 60 hostages,” the official said.

A group of men armed with heavy weapons appear to have taken control of the town of Madaen, just south of Baghdad, and no police or government forces were in sight, the official added.

“The residents told me the insurgents were wandering the streets in cars and warning people on loudspeakers that if Shias want the hostages to be safe they must leave town,” said the official.

BLASTS KILL FOUR: Bombs targeting US and Iraqi soldiers in various areas killed four people on Friday.

A roadside bomb near the central city of Samarra killed two Iraqi soldiers, an army source said.

A car bomb intended for a US military convoy passing through Baghdad’s upscale Mansour neighbourhood killed one person and wounded five, including an American soldier.—Reuters