3 Americans abducted last month freed in Iraq

BAGHDAD — The three Americans who were abducted in Baghdad last month have been freed, the State Department said Tuesday, and Iraqi officials said they have been handed over to the U.S. Embassy in good health.

“The Department of State welcomes the news that the government of Iraq has secured the release of three U.S. citizens whowere reported as missing in January. We sincerely appreciate the assistance provided by the Government of Iraq, and its whole-of-government effort to bring about the safe release of these individuals,” Mark Toner, a deputy spokesman, said in a statement.

The Iraqi officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the press, said the three were freed by Iraqi security forces.

In January, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad confirmed that several Americans had gone missing. Iraqi authorities said the three were kidnapped from a “suspicious apartment.”

At the time, witnesses said men in uniform carried out the kidnapping in broad daylight on Jan.16, 100 yards froma police station.

Iraqi and Western officials said they suspected one of two powerful Shiite militias was behind the kidnapping.

The Americans were abducted in Dora, amixed neighborhood that is home to both Shiites and Sunnis.

It was the latest in a series of brazen kidnappings undermining confidence in the Iraqi government’s ability to control state-sanctioned Shiite militias, which have grown in strength as Iraqi security forces battle the Islamic State group.