Iraqi Officials Begin Search for Three Americans Allegedly Abducted in Baghdad

Iraqi officials have begun searching for three American contractors who were allegedly kidnapped in Baghdad. If the allegations are true, this will be the first time since 2011 that Americans have been abducted in Iraq.

The U.S. is currently investigating the claim as well.

"A company filed a report Sunday about three of its staff going missing. ... They are American contractors. We are looking into this report," a senior security official based in Baghdad said to CNN.

The U.S. State Department spokesman, John Kirby, said, "We are working with the full cooperation of the Iraqi authorities to locate and recover the individuals."

A source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity reported by the Washington Post, said that the Americans were working as contractors at the Baghdad International Airport. The source did not say which private company hired them.

Another source, a police official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, stated that the three individuals are Amro Mohamed, Wael al-Mahdawi, and Rusul Farad, who the source said is a woman. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has not confirmed these identifications.

Mohammed al-Karbouli, a member of the parliament's security and defense panel, stated that gunmen had stormed the apartment where the three Americans were staying last Friday. The private apartment is located in a region of the Dora neighborhood that is controlled by Shiite militiamen. The Dora neighborhood is very religiously diverse.

Other reports claimed that the Americans were seized from a second-story apartment that many consider to be a brothel. The Baghdad Operations Command's statement called the apartment "suspicious."

"They went to an inappropriate place," Iraqi lawmaker Iskander Witwit said according to the Post. "Iraqi security forces are working very hard now to locate them."

Witwit, who is the Deputy Head of the defense panel, added that two of them are dual Iraqi-American citizens. The third is an American national.

As of right now, the motives behind the kidnapping are unclear. A source told CNN that the men were taken away via a vehicle convoy.

This kidnapping is the latest one to occur in Iraq. Just last month, unknown militants kidnapped at least 26 hunters from Qatar. These hunters have yet to be located.