Protesters in Baghdad demand release of abducted Iraqi journalist

Hundreds of people have protested in Baghdad demanding the release of an Iraqi journalist after she was allegedly abducted by unknown gunmen.

Demonstrators in the centre of the city chanted "Freedom for Afrah" after Afrah Shawqi was taken from her home in a southern neighbourhood of the capital on Monday.

"We demand the release of Afrah but we don't know who kidnapped her," Sana Rassoul, a female doctor, told AFP in Baghdad's Tahrir Square.

The journalist's supporters joined members of civil society and backers of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr who demonstrate in the square every Friday against government corruption.

Shawqi, 43, is employed by Asharq al-Awsat, a London-based pan-Arab newspaper, as well as a number of news websites including Aklaam.

On Monday she published a stinging article on the website in which she hit out at the armed groups which "act with impunity" in Iraq.

"The real scandal is that gunmen were easily able to enter a woman's home and abduct her," said Dhikra Sarsam, another protester.

"The interior ministry has said absolutely nothing about the circumstances of her abduction."

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has ordered the security services to do their utmost to find Shawqi and track down those responsible.

Iraq is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, along with Syria and Mexico, according to press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Nine journalists have been killed in the country in 2016, the group says.