The US is holding as many as 15 Iranians hostage under the pretext of bypassing American sanctions against the Islamic Republic, an official at Iran's Judiciary said.

National Desk

A crocodile that had managed to escape a nature reserve in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, found itself in deep water after it ended up in a village. Though it tried to keep a low profile in the village pond, the villagers spotted it. Initially, the reptile managed to scare them, however, it got caught and was held hostage. What’s more, the villagers even demanded a ransom.

Daesh-affiliated terrorists have taken hundreds of hostages in a town in northeast Nigeria, locals and militia sources said Wednesday.

Political Desk

The European Union has been holding the Iran nuclear deal hostage so that it can press Tehran into meeting its other unrelated demands.

A principal and one teacher are still being held by the armed men that took them, a priest conducting negotiations said.

Iran’s OPEC governor said on Saturday that Saudi Arabia and Russia have taken the oil market “hostage” as US President Donald Trump seeks to impose fresh sanctions on Iranian oil sales.

Afghan forces launched a lightning operation in northern Kunduz province on Monday, rescuing 149 people, including women and children, abducted by the Taliban just hours earlier, officials said.

An unstable person, reportedly a man, has taken two people hostage in the French capital in an incident that authorities presume has no connection with terrorism.

After an apparent hourslong standoff between police and a gunman, three women were found dead Friday night at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville, authorities said.

A man kidnapped by a group of criminals was freed within five days after he was taken hostage, Police Chief of Sarbaz, Sistan-Baluchestan Province said on Sunday.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) forces rescued an Iranian engineer who had been kidnapped at an eastern border area in Iran and held hostage inside Afghanistan for 10 days, a commander announced.

Four gunmen have been killed after they attacked a tourist resort in Mali frequented by Westerners, the country's security minister said.

Twenty-six members of a hunting party, including Qatari royals, who were captured in Iraq more than a year ago, have been freed on Friday.