Iraq's security forces have freed 42 university students who had been kidnapped hours earlier by unidentified gunmen from near Iraq's northern city of Mosul.

Brigadier General Khalid Abdul Sattar, spokesman for the Mosul's security plan, said: "We freed the students who were kidnapped this morning, south of Mosul."
 
The students were kidnapped on Sunday near an area called Jorum, on a highway near Mosul.
 
Pre-planned operation

The students were travelling in two buses. But the bus carrying female students managed to escape and male students in the other bus were taken hostage.
 
Mosul police said that they believed the kidnapping was a result of mistaken identity.
 
They said the kidnappers probably thought the male students to be policemen or police recruits.
 
However, when they were able to establish their identities as students, they let them go.

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