Five Filipinos have been abducted by armed men in separate incidents in the two countries on Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday.

In a statement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said that two female Filipinos were kidnapped in Iraq, while three Filipino technicians in Libya.

“The Department, through our embassies in Baghdad and Tripoli, has been informed that five of our kababayan have been taken by armed men in Iraq and Libya on Friday," he said.

“We are in touch with authorities in Iraq and Libya and have requested their assistance in locating and securing the release of our missing kababayan,” he added.

Initial reports from the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad said two Filipinas were taken by still unidentified armed men along a highway in Uzem District, south of Kirkuk.

Charg? d’Affaires Julius Torres said the women were reportedly with two other Filipinas on their way to Baghdad from Kurdistan when their vehicle was stopped by the armed men.

Torres said that reports received by the Embassy indicate that the driver abandoned his vehicle and the four Filipinas who were then taken by the armed men. However, the reports said two of the Filipinas were later able to escape and are now in police custody.

In Libya, the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli said three Filipino technicians were among four foreign nationals taken by armed men from a waterworks project site also on Friday.

Charg? d’Affaires Mardomel Melicor said armed men entered the construction site located 500 kilometers from Tripoli early morning Friday and took five foreigners and four Libyan from their quarters.

Melicor said the armed men later released one of the foreign workers and all the Libyans. DMS