Militants in Iraq said to kidnap at least 50 Sunni tribesmen

Islamic State militants have kidnapped at least 50 Sunni Muslim tribesmen from a village in northern Iraq, according to Iraqi news outlets.

The abductions, which reportedly occurred Friday, appear to be part of a concerted campaign against Sunnis who challenge the authority of the Al Qaeda breakaway faction, which presents itself as a champion of Sunni Muslims.

Militants from the extremist group stormed the village of Riyadh, about 30 miles west of the city of Kirkuk, rounding up Sunni tribesmen who had previously served as police officers, as soldiers or in anti-Al Qaeda militias, according to Iraqi press accounts.

Mada Press, an Iraqi news outlet, quoted a security source as saying that the kidnappings came after word of “Arab tribes reorganizing their ranks and fighting elements of Daesh,” using an Arabic term for the militants.

The fate of those kidnapped remained uncertain Sunday.

Word of the abductions comes after a number of attacks targeting members of the Sunni Arab Ubayd tribe in Kirkuk province, whose mixed population includes Kurds and Arabs. Twenty tribal members were recently kidnapped and summarily executed, according to an unnamed security source quoted in Al Sumaria news, an Iraqi pro-government satellite channel. Baghdad blamed Islamic State militants in that attack as well.

The Shiite Muslim-led Iraqi government, backed by U.S. airstrikes, has begun a wide-scale campaign against the extremist Sunni group. Islamic State, capitalizing on disenchantment among Iraq’s minority Sunni Arab community, blitzed through large swaths of Iraq in June and August, overrunning many towns with little opposition. The group now wields power in a number of mostly Sunni majority provinces, towns and cities.

The Iraqi government has bolstered its ranks with Shiite Muslim volunteers joining the army and allied paramilitary groups. Baghdad has also made overtures to Sunni tribal leaders in an attempt to peel away Islamic State’s support base. The Iraqi government would like to replicate the success of homegrown Sunni militias that fought Al Qaeda-affiliated militants in 2007-08, during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. But Islamic State is demanding loyalty and is striking back against Sunnis perceived as disloyal.

Bulos is a special correspondent.