Reports from Iraq claim that the Islamic State (Isis) militants have kidnapped more than 100 men and boys from families that are fighting the radical militant outfit near Tikrit.
An influencial cleric, Sheikh Anwar Assi al-Obeidi, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that a total of 118 men and nine boys were taken as captives by the group three days ago from Rubaitha village, east of Tikrit. However, later the militants reportedly released 21 captives.
The Iraqi city of Tikrit, located 140km northwest of Baghdad, has been under Isis control since June 2014. However, the inhabitants of several areas around the city have been fighting the Islamic State militants.
The abducted men and boys are from the Iraqi al-Obeid tribe hailing from the Kirkuk region and many are employed by private oil companies to guard their resources. Since June last year, 600 fighters from the al-Obeid tribe have been killed by Isis militants, the cleric claimed.
The cleric claimed that the news from the region could not be reported earlier as Isis had cut off all phone services in the area.
The report comes a day after Isis militants abducted some 150 Assyrian Christian men, woman and children from the Kurdish city of al-Hasaka in Syria.
