MOSUL, Iraq — A Christian doctor abducted by an armed gang overnight from her home near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul was released on Sunday evening, police said.

Mahasin Bashir was freed at around 6 pm (1500 GMT) in the town of Baashiqa, 15 kilometres from her home in the predomina-ntly Christian locality of Bartala.

Police did not say what the motives were for her kidnapping, or whether any ransom was paid.

Bartala is around 20 kms from Mo-sul in Nineveh province, one of the country’s most violent areas.

“The gang kidnapped the doctor, Mahasin Bashir, in her home late at night as her children watched, and then they put her into a car,” a police officer said earlier, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Bashir worked in a hospital in a nearby Christian town, Hamdania, as a gynaecologist. Her husband, who is also a doctor, was not at home at the time of the kidnapping.