At least 9 escape Iraq kidnappers, cross into Kuwait

Nine of the 26 Qatari hunters kidnapped in Iraq  managed to escape and have now crossed into Kuwait, police and media said on Thursday.

The Qatari ambassador to Kuwait received the freed hunters on the Abdali border crossing on the Kuwaiti-Iraqi border, however security sources did not reveal the identities of the men or how their release was secured.

Kuwaiti diplomatic sources said the country was coordinating with both Qatari and Iraqi officials to free the rest of the hunting party.

A group of 26 Qatari men, including members of the royal family, were kidnapped by an armed group in southern Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The Qatari men were camping during a hunting trip close to the Saudi border when they were attacked by at least 100 gunmen carrying light weapons.

Unknown gunmen in dozens of pick-up trucks attacked a place where Qatari hunters were located

A fleet of around 70 4x4 vehicles were used to surround the hunting crew at around 3am local time.

"Unknown gunmen in dozens of pick-up trucks attacked a place where Qatari hunters were located," the official said.

Two officials said that members of Qatar's ruling family were among those kidnapped but did not identify them by name.

The men had recieved permits from Iraq's ministry of interior to hunt with falcons, the source said.

Reports circulating on social media networks suggest that the men are safe and well.

This is second high-profile seizure of foreign nationals in the country in three months.

Qatar's foreign ministry had earlier confirmed that its citizens had been kidnapped and that officials were working for their release.

Kidnappings have become common during the past 12 years, when chaos erupted after the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Shia militias and criminal gangs are active in Baghdad and the south of Iraq, kidnapping foreign and Iraqi civilians for ransom.