9 kidnapped in attack on Kurdish telecom office in Iraq

Gunmen attacked an office of a Kurdish mobile phone operator company in southern Iraq late Friday and abducted nine employees, the company said.

In a statement, Korek Telecom said the attackers had blown up its main office in Hillah city in the southern Babil province, leaving it totally destroyed.

The Kurdish operator said the attack had caused to cut off its internet service in the provinces of Najaf, Karbala, Babil, Diwaniyah and Muthanna.

Friday's attack came amid tension between the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and Baghdad over last month's regional independence referendum.

The illegitimate referendum had faced strong opposition from most regional and international actors -- including the U.S., Turkey and Iran -- who warned that the poll would distract from Iraq's fight against terrorism and further destabilize the region.

In the immediate aftermath of the referendum, Baghdad banned international flights from entering KRG-controlled areas and closed all foreign diplomatic missions based in the Kurdish region.