At least 17 Turkish workers have been abducted in Iraq.

They were building a sports complex in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City.

Security officials described masked gunmen in military uniforms bundling the workers into vehicles and speeding off.

Iraq’s interior minister said the workers were taken in the district of Habibiya.

Turkey’s foreign ministry said Turks were specifically targeted.

Diplomats had feared Turkey would suffer reprisals after launching attacks against ISIL fighters in neighbouring Syria and opening its bases to a US-led coalition fighting the group.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s (September 2) abductions.

A police colonel said that 17 Turks were taken, while an interior ministry official put the number seized at 18.

Last year 46 Turkish citizens were seized by ISIL militants in the Iraqi city of Mosul. They were released unharmed after three months.