BEIJING (Xinhuanet) -- Twelve Nepalese men have been taken captive in Iraq by a shadowy Islamist group, calling itself the Ansar al-Sunna Army, according to a statement posted on an Islamist website Friday.

"A group of heroic mujahedeen (Islamic fighters) managed on thenight of Aug. 19-20 to take 12 people affiliated with a Nepalese company captive," said the statement signed by the army's militarycommand.

The group has seized the Nepali workers because of their cooperation with US forces in Iraq, said the statement, listing the names of the 12 "infidels."

Scores of foreign hostages have been taken in Iraq by militant groups aimed at driving out individuals, companies and troops supporting US forces and the US-backed Iraqi interim government. Some have been released but at least nine have been killed.

The following is a list of foreign hostages known or reportedlyto have been killed or are still in captivity in Iraq.

2004:

April 8 -- Canadian Mohammed Rifat is kidnapped and still missing.

April 12 -- Jordanian Wael Mamduh is abducted in Basra and still missing.

April 14 -- Italian guard Fabrizio Quattrocchi is killed.

May 11 -- US civilian Nick Berg, missing since April 9, is beheaded. Militants with links to al-Qaeda claim responsibility.

June 5 -- Kuwaiti truck driver Saad Saadoun taking supplies to US troops is captured by a militant group called the Waqas IslamicBrigade.

June 7 -- Two Turks Tarkan Arikoglu and Adnan Azizoglu are seized in Fallujah, with Azizoglu being freed the next day.

June 10 -- Lebanese Hussein Ali Alyan is kidnapped along with two Iraqi colleagues. Their bodies are found on a road between Fallujah and Ramadi on June 12.

June 17 -- South Korean Kim Sun-il is kidnapped in Fallujah He is beheaded on June 22. His captors are militants from Jama'at al-Tawhid and Jihad.

June 28 -- Al Jazeera shows a footage of what it claims is the killing of US soldier Keith Matthew Maupin. There is no confirmation that Maupin is the man killed.

July 13 -- A group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, with suspected links to al-Qaeda, kills one of two Bulgarian hostages Ivailo Kepov and Georgi Lazov. It threatens to kill the other within 24 hours unless US-led forces free prisoners.

July 17 -- Mohammed Omar, a Turkish oil tanker driver, is seized when his convoy of oil tanker trucks is attacked by men in four civilian cars northwest of Mosul, relatives say.

July 21 -- A military group calling itself the "Black Banners" says it has seized three Kenyans, three Indians and one Egyptian, all of whom are working for a Kuwaiti company. The group threatensto kill one hostage every three days if the company does not leaveIraq from 8 p.m. (1600 GMT) Wednesday.

July 26 -- An armed group says on a videotape they have kidnapped two Pakistanis and one Iraqi and threatens to kill the two Pakistanis.

July 26 -- A group, calling itself the Mujahideen Corps, says on a videotape that it will execute two kidnapped Jordanians in 72hours unless their Jordanian company stops doing business with theUS military.

July 28 -- Al Jazeera television says Raja Azad Khan and SajjadNaeem, two Pakistanis held by a group threatening to kill them, have been executed.

July 29 -- A militant group seizes Somali driver Ali Ahmed Mousa and threatens to behead him in 48 hours unless his Kuwaiti firm stops work in Iraq, Al Jazeera reports.

July 29 -- Kidnappers with the "Black Banners" holding seven foreign truck drivers hostage in Iraq threaten to kill one of the Indian hostages if they receive no response to their demands.

July 29 -- A militant group calling itself the Death Squad in Iraq says it is holding four Jordanian workers and calls on the Jordanian transport company to stop cooperation with the US forcesin Iraq.

July 31 -- A group linked to Jordanian-born al-Qaida militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi declares to have kidnapped two Turkish drivers in Iraq and threatens to behead them in 48 hours unless their company stops operation there.

Aug. 3 -- The Jordanian Foreign Ministry confirmed that anotherJordanian had been kidnapped in Iraq, bringing to seven the numberof Jordanian nationals held hostage in the neighboring country.

Aug. 4 -- The Jordanian Foreign Ministry confirmed said that four Jordanians kidnapped in Iraq were rescued, on Aug. 3 at the Iraqi city of Fallujah, by Iraqi tribesmen led by Sheikh Haj Ibrahim Jassam in a raid on the hideout of the abductors.

Aug. 5 -- A fifth Jordanian, businessman Adel Ubeidallah, were released in Baghdad, after his family made a ransom payment of 100,000 dollars to his captors.

Aug. 6 -- The Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed three Turkish citizens had been held hostage and two others were reported missing in Iraq.

Aug. 6 -- The Lebanese Foreign Ministry said four Lebanese truck drivers were kidnapped on Aug. 5 while driving on a road between Baghdad and Ramadi.

Aug. 7 -- Militants told journalists in Samarra that Turkish truck driver, Tahsin Top, was being held hostage. The kidnappers demanded that his company leave Iraq within 48 hours. The Turkish company announced that it was withdrawing from Iraq in order to guarantee Top's release.

Aug. 8 -- The Iranian embassy in Baghdad said that its consul in Karbala, Fereydun Jahani, was kidnapped on the road connecting Baghdad and Karbala. He became the second senior foreign diplomat kidnapped in Iraq in recent weeks, following Egyptian diplomat Mohammed Mamdouh Helmi Qutb, who was abducted on July 23 and freedon July 26.

Aug. 9 -- Samer Tumallah Hussein Tumallah, a Jordanian car dealer, was taken hostage when five people kidnapped him in Baghdad. The captors had demanded a ransom of 170,000 US dollars. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry said on Aug. 17 that he was released.

Aug. 13 -- British journalist James Brandon was kidnapped in southern Iraqi city of Basra but later was released by the captors.