Three family members of interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi were kidnapped, BBC news channel reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, the family members, including a cousin of Allawi, the cousin's wife and his daughter-in-law, were kidnapped on Tuesday evening from their house in Baghdad.

Three cars with at least six men inside pulled up to the house in Baghdad's southern district of Al-Kadisiya, from where they took Ghazi Allawi and his two family members, an official source was quoted as saying.

The Interior Ministry could not be reached for confirmation.

Militant groups have published statements on websites to call for more attacks against members and institutions of the current government.

Allawi issued this week the order to start a state of emergency across Iraq and authorized US and Iraqi forces to storm Fallujah to clear the city of insurgents.

The iron-handed move has aroused disputes among the Iraqi society. Iraqi Islamic Party, a mainly Sunni political party, has announced to quit the Allawi government in protest of the military operation.