Iraqi troops yesterday closed in on the Madaen district south of Baghdad in a bid to to end a three-day old hostage crisis that residents of neighbouring villages claim is part of a sustained campaign by Sunni Arab militants to intimidate the local Shia population.

Iraqi officials said Sunni insurgents had seized up to 150 hostages including women and children since Friday in Madaen, a mixed Sunni-Shia district of towns and farms. The insurgents have threatened to kill them unless the Shia leave the area.