An American journalist, Shelly Kittleson, has been kidnapped in Baghdad by a suspected Iranian-backed Iraqi armed group, the US has said, as regional security deteriorates after the US-Israeli attack on Iran. Kittleson is a longtime freelancer in the region, reporting extensively from Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
The US state department said it was working to ensure her release “as soon as possible”. Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, wrote on X that “an individual with ties to the Iranian-aligned militia group Kataib Hezballah believed to be involved in the kidnapping has been taken into custody by Iraqi authorities”.
Iraqi authorities said they intercepted a vehicle that overturned as suspects tried to flee. “Security forces were able to arrest one of the suspects and seize one of the vehicles used in the crime,” the Iraqi interior ministry said in a statement. “The ministry affirms that efforts are ongoing to track down the remaining individuals involved, secure the release of the kidnapped journalist.”
An Iraqi security source told Agence France-Presse that the abduction occurred in Baghdad. Police officials said Kittleson was seized by four men in civilian clothes and taken in a vehicle. A surveillance video showed a man forcing her into a car on the streets of Baghdad and the car driving off in a matter of seconds. The search was focused on the eastern part of the capital where the kidnappers’ vehicle was headed.
Al-Monitor, for whom Kittleson has written, said it was “deeply alarmed” by her kidnapping and called for her “safe and immediate release”. The US has warned Americans of rising risks in Iraq after the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February. Johnson said the state department had “fulfilled our duty” to warn the journalist about threats and reiterated a warning for Americans to leave Iraq.
