Taken by gunmen on 50 vehicles with mounted machine guns, police said

Qatari Royals have been kidnapped by gunmen while out hunting in a remote desert area of southern Iraq after their armed guard abandoned them.

It emerged today that the gunmen kidnapped at least 26 Qatari hunters, including members of the royal family, after they were snatched from their camp near Samawah province, 230 miles from Baghdad.

The raid was carried out at around 3am this morning, said the area's governor, Faleh al-Zayadi, adding that around 100 kidnappers on 50 machine gun mounted SUVs launched the attack.

The group of Qatari hunters, which included members of the royal family, were snatched from their camp near Samawah province, 230 miles from Baghdad

Police said kidnappers driving SUVs mounted with machine guns snatched the group which included Qatari royals (file photo of Qatari royals who are not known to be the ones who were abducted)

A Samawa police colonel told Reuters the hunters were being escorted by an Iraqi security detail but that it decided not to fight the large group of gunmen.

'We are talking about at least 100 gunmen armed with light and medium weapons who broke into the Qatari camp and abducted the hunters,' the police colonel, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.

It is the second high profile abduction in Iraq since September when 18 Turkish citizens were kidnapped.

Two police officers confirmed the kidnappings today and said Iraqi security forces had launched a wide scale search for the Qataris in Samawah, a largely desolate expanse where armed militia groups are known to operate.

Al-Zayadi said: 'An armed group driving dozens of pickup trucks kidnapped at least 26 Qatari hunters from their camp in the area of Busaya in the Samawah desert near the Saudi border.'

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abduction but Iraq's Interior Ministry said they aimed 'to achieve political and media goals'.

Two Iraqi intelligence officers tasked with protecting the party were also taken, but later released.

Qatar's foreign ministry has asked Iraq for 'details about the kidnapping' and urged them 'to work to release them as quickly as possible'.

Gunmen have kidnapped at least 26 Qatari hunters, including members of its royal family, in Samawah (file photo), southern Iraq, officials said

Kidnappers released two videos of the captured Turkish citizens (pictured) after they were abducted in September

The hunters entered Iraq with an 'official permit' from the interior ministry, it added in a statement released to the QNA news agency.

Wealthy citizens from Sunni Gulf states are known to travel to Middle Eastern nations including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq to hunt with falcons.

There, the hunters are not restricted to the same quotas and conservation measures as they would be at home.

There is a degree of hostility towards over Gulf nations in Iraq's Shi'ite majority south, where some believe they were complicit in the rise of ISIS. No connection has ever been proven.

Qatar, which has financially backed rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is especially reviled there because local Iraqi factions have sent fighters to prop up his regime.

The abductions come just three months after gunmen took 18 Turkish citizens in Baghdad, before releasing them unharmed.

Qatar's foreign ministry has asked Iraq for 'details about the kidnapping' and urged them 'to work to release them as quickly as possible' (file photo of Qatar's emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who is not believed to be one of the royals captured)

Police said the kidnappers used more than 50 vehicles with mounted machine guns in what was the second high profile kidnapping in Iraq since September (file photo of explosion in southern Iraq in 2004)

Turkey, like Qatar, has close ties to Syrian rebel groups and is accused by some of not doing enough to combat ISIS.

Two of them were released in the southern province of Basra and the other 16 on the road to Karbala, also south of Baghdad.