Unknown gunmen have kidnapped seven members of the Iranian Red Crescent relief group in western Libya.

The Libyan Red Crescent said its Iranian counterparts were nabbed Monday on their way to their hotel in the city of Benghazi.

Libya is appealing to the gunmen to free their hostages, saying the Iranians helped the rebels during last year's revolution that toppled dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

There have been a number of kidnappings carried out by rival groups since Gadhafi's ouster, including the abduction of the president of Libya's Olympic Committee earlier this month.