An American journalist was kidnapped on Tuesday in central Baghdad, Iraqi officials confirmed, as security forces launched an operation to locate her.
The abducted journalist was identified as Shelly Kittleson, 49, a U.S. freelance reporter who has contributed to Al-Monitor and reported extensively from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
Iraq’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that a “foreign journalist” was abducted by unknown individuals, without initially naming her. Security forces began pursuing the kidnappers using “precise intelligence information” and intensive field operations, the ministry said.
According to Iraqi officials, at least two vehicles were involved in the abduction on Saadoun Street in Baghdad. During a pursuit, one of the vehicles overturned near the town of Al-Haswa in Babil province, and a suspect was arrested, but Kittleson was not inside the vehicle. Other kidnappers fled with the journalist, whose whereabouts and condition remain unknown.
Al-Monitor confirmed Kittleson’s identity and called for her immediate release.
Alex Plitsas, a CNN national security analyst who said he serves as a U.S. point of contact for Kittleson, wrote that she “was abducted and may have been taken hostage in Baghdad by Kata’ib Hezbollah,” though no group has claimed responsibility.
The Interior Ministry said efforts are ongoing to track the remaining suspects and “rescue the kidnapped victim.”
Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, wrote on Tuesday that the U.S. State Department is “aware of the reported kidnapping of an American journalist in Baghdad” and that the department “previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them.”
“An individual with ties to the Iranian-aligned militia group Kata’ib Hezbollah, believed to be involved in the kidnapping, has been taken into custody by Iraqi authorities,” he stated, noting that the department will continue to work with the FBI to coordinate the journalist’s release as quickly as possible.
Johnson added that “Iraq remains at a Level 4 Travel Advisory and Americans are advised not to travel to Iraq for any reason and to leave Iraq now.”
