2 Pak hostages killed in Iraq

The Gulf-based Al Jazeera news channel on Wednesday said that two Pakistani nationals abducted in Iraq had been killed by their captors. The latter had demanded the employers of the two men, a Kuwaiti company, cease operations in Iraq.

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This is, perhaps, the first time since militants in Iraq began abducting foreigners that citizens of a Muslim nation were being killed.

Pakistani officials are trying to confirm the reports.

Pakistan had managed to secure the release of one of its citizens abducted about a month back.

The abductions are aimed at forcing companies, seen as helping the US rebuild Iraq, to leave the country.

At present, India is trying to secure the release of three of its citizens abducted by a group calling itself 'Black Flags'.