BAGHDAD: Gunmen have kidnapped an Iraqi female journalist Afrah Shawqi after posing as members of the security forces and bursting into her home in Baghdad, authorities said on Tuesday. 

Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi condemned her abduction and ordered the security services to do their utmost find her and track down those responsible.

Shawqi was abducted on Monday at around 10:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) from her home in a southern neighborhood of the capital, said Ziad Al-Ajili, head of the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory.

“Eight armed men burst into her house in Saidiya dressed in plain clothes and entered by pretending to belong to the security forces,” he told AFP.

“They tied up her son and stole mobile phones, computers and cash before kidnapping Afrah and fleeing.”

Shawqi, 43, was a former freelance contributor to Asharq Al-Awsat, a London-based pan-Arab newspaper, and stopped working for the publication six months ago. Shawqi also worked at a number of news websites, including Aklaam.

Iraq is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.

Seven journalists have been killed in the country in 2016, press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said last week.