Iraqi abductors free 11 Pakistanis, 2 Indians

The Pakistanis, who worked with a Kuwaiti firm, went missing while travelling by bus from the southern Iraqi city of Basra to the capital Baghdad on August 13, foreign office spokesman Naeem Khan said.

"We have just been informed by the Kuwaiti company that all 11 Pakistanis have been freed," he told a weekly news briefing. They were currently in Basra and would be transported to Kuwait in the next 24 hours, the spokesman added.

Two Indians and three Egyptians abducted at the same time had also been freed, Khan said.

There was no immediate confirmation from either Cairo or New Delhi.

"There were 11 Pakistanis, three Egyptians and two Indians also, they were also kidnapped. They were released only today," he told reporters.

"The people were being bussed and they were going to Baghdad. I think (they were) close to Nasiriya when they were kidnapped."

Khan also reiterated Islamabad's advice to Pakistanis not to travel to Iraq, where he said the security situation was "precarious".

Iraq has been rocked by a wave of abductions of foreigners since April 2004.

Meanwhile, two US soldiers were killed late on Sunday when their vehicle rolled over during a combat patrol in Iraq, the US military said yesterday.