BAGHDAD // Gunmen kidnapped 26 members of a Qatari hunting party in southern Iraq, officials said on Wednesday, the second high-profile case in the country in three months.

“Twenty-six Qatari hunters were kidnapped at about 3am (4am UAE) by unknown gunmen,” according to a police major from Muthanna province, where the kidnappings took place.

A council member from the province confirmed the number of people kidnapped but did not specify their nationality.

“Unknown gunmen in dozens of pick-up trucks attacked a place where Qatari hunters were located,” the official said.

Two officials said that members of Qatar’s ruling family were among those kidnapped but did not identify them by name.

Doha has not confirmed or commented on the kidnapping.

Two Iraqi officers providing security for the party were also seized, officials said.

Arabian Gulf nationals often venture to countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq to hunt with falcons.

The kidnappings come a little over three months after gunmen seized 18 employees of a major Turkish construction firm working in Baghdad.

The Turkish workers were later freed unharmed.

* Agence France-Presse