Mosul ISIS: Mosul sees surge in ransom kidnappings of its rich: newspaper

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Mosul ISIS: With civilians struggling to bring life back to normal at the war-ravaged city of Mosul, well-off residents and merchants are particularly facing yet an additional conundrum, a surge in ransom kidnappings of their relatives.

Kidnappings have recently become a daily phenomenon at various parts of the city, according to London-based Alquds Alarabi.

“Armed groups have kidnapped my son four months earlier, and asked for USD60.000 for his release,” Abu Abdel-Rahman, a merchant from Mosul, told the paper.

A source who delivered the ransom to the child’s captors said he himself was kidnapped and later released for USD80.000.

Abu Abdel-Rahman says he might eventually find himself obliged to leave Iraq as he does not rule out more kidnappings of his family members.

Mostafa, another Mosuli, said his kidnappers were dressed in military insignia and asked for USD30.000. He was released a few hours after the amount was paid.

“Some of the kidnapped were executed when their families said they were unable to pay.” Mostafa added.

A source within Mosul’s police, who asked not to be named, told Alquds Aalarbi that many of the armed groups and mobilization troops do not receive salaries from the Iraqi government, as he put it, which, he says, prompts undisciplined elements to carry out kidnappings and armed robberies.

“Many of those are arrested by police but released later after intervention from influential bodies,” the source says.

Mosul ISIS

Iraqi government forces recaptured Mosul from Islamic State militants early July, ending more than eight months of military operations. The battle displaced more than one million civilians, and the government plans to repatriate them before the end of 2017.

Civilians will be struggling to cope with devastated basic services and infrastructure, the restoration of which would cost tens of billions of dollars, according to international agencies.