Unidentified gunmen have kidnapped 42 university students from near Iraq's northern city of Mosul.
Brigadier General Khalid Abdul Sattar, spokesman for the Mosul's security plan, said the gunmen ambushed two buses which were ferrying students to Mosul from their homes in Shurkat, 70km south of Iraq's main northern city.
Sattar said that Sunday's kidnapping took place in an area called Jorum on a highway near Mosul.
"One of the two buses managed to escape although the gunmen fired at it and wounded three students," he said.
"The kidnappers later fled after taking control of the other bus carrying 42 students," he added.
Tareq al-Taei, an Iraqi journalist told Al Jazeera that the armed men have taken the students to an unknown place.
"These students were coming from small villages and towns near Mosul city."
He said it was known that the students travelled to the university every Sunday morning after returning to their towns at the weekend.