BAGHDAD, Iraq – A group of 42 male university students abducted near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul have been freed, just few hours after their kidnapping. Another bus carrying female students had managed to escape, but three passengers were injured by gunfire.

The buses were taking the students to Mosul University, where classes were due to restart after a weekend break. The kidnappers had stopped the buses near an area called Jorum, on a highway near Mosul. The bus carrying female students fled, but the bus carrying male students were unable to escape. The captured male students were loaded into a trailer and were taken to the village of al-Jarradi, where they were eventually freed.

No group has claimed responsibility, but many speculate Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia to be responsible for the kidnapping. Al Qaeda has regrouped in the Northern Province after having been pushed out of western AnBar Province and Baghdad. The U.S. military says Mosul is Al Qaeda’s last major urban stronghold in the country.

Mosul police believes the kidnapping was a result of mistaken identity. The police said the kidnappers probably thought the male students to be policemen or police recruits. But when the kidnappers found out the hostages were students, they let the students go.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Abducted Iraqi students are freed – 6 April 2008

International Herald Tribune – 42 university students abducted in Iraq – 6 April 2008

Al Jazeera – Abducted Iraqi students freed – 6 April 2008

The Associated Press – Gunmen seize 42 college students – 6 April 2008