"We are acquainted of letters that American citizens are missing in Iraq," US State Department agent John Kirby said.
"We are alive with the abounding cooperation of the Iraqi authorities to locate and balance the individuals," Kirby added, afterwards accouterment data about their amount or the affairs of their disappearance.
An Iraqi badge colonel said on action of anonymity that three Americans and an Iraqi translator were kidnapped in southern Baghdad, and that Iraqi armament accept launched an operation to acquisition them.
The administrator said that according to advice he had received, the kidnappers were militiamen cutting aggressive uniforms.
"We don't apperceive what their plan is," the colonel said of the kidnapped Americans.
Iraq angry to paramilitary armament bedeviled by Iran-backed Shiite militias to advice action the Islamic State jihadist group, which overran abounding locations of the country in 2014.
These groups, which abatement beneath an awning organisation accepted as the Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation units, accept played a key role in the action adjoin the jihadists.
But they accept aswell been accused of abuses including arbitrary executions, kidnappings and abolition of property.
The US is arch a affiliation of countries that accept austere bags of IS targets in Iraq and Syria and which are accouterment training to Baghdad's forces.
Washington has aswell accomplished appropriate armament to Iraq to backpack out raids adjoin the jihadists.
Both American armament and Shiite paramilitaries are aggressive IS, but relations amid the two abandon accept been tense, abnormally due to angry amid them in the years afterwards the 2003 US-led aggression of Iraq.
IS aswell has abounding motive to ambition Americans, but while it is able to backpack out bombings in Baghdad, it does not accept a above attendance in the city.
Dozens of adopted nationals accept been kidnapped in the accomplished 5 months, but kidnappers aswell frequently ambition Iraqis for ransoms or to achieve scores.
Last month, gunmen kidnapped added than two dozen Qataris who had appear to southern Iraq to hunt.
Their abode are still unknown, as are the identities of their kidnappers. But Shiite militia groups accept a above attendance in southern Iraq, while IS does not.
The kidnapping of the Qataris came a little over three months afterwards gunmen bedeviled 18 Turks in Baghdad. They were after appear unharmed.
The kidnapping of the Turks was claimed by an organisation that presented itself as a Shiite accumulation alleged "Furaq al-Mawt", or "Death Squads", in a video claiming the kidnappings.
Iraqi aegis armament clashed with fighters from the able Ketaeb Hezbollah militia during the seek for the kidnapped Turks.
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