Unknown gunmen kidnapped an Iraqi prominent professor from his house in eastern Baghdad neighborhood on Saturday night, a well-informed police source said.

"Dhiya'a al-Din Mehdi Hussein, a criminal law professor in Mustansriyah University, was kidnapped by gunmen who stormed his house in the Palestine Street," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Two days ago, another professor Jasim Muhammad al-Thahabi, dean of Management and Economy Collage of Baghdad University, was gunned down by unidentified armed men in front of the rear gate of his collage, along with his wife and son.

Hundreds of senior Iraqi academics were assassinated in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 and more than 3,000 others fled the country for fear of assassinations or for better career opportunities.

Source: Xinhua