Shelly Kittleson, a US award-winning freelance journalist, was kidnapped by unidentified folks in Baghdad on Tuesday. In accordance with a report by Al-Monitor, sources from the Trump administration had been conscious of the menace in opposition to her and had suggested her to not journey to Iraq.
Iraq’s Inside Ministry has confirmed {that a} overseas journalist has been kidnapped in Iraq, nonetheless, it didn’t present any additional particulars concerning the identification of the reporter.
“The Ministry of the Inside publicizes that, within the night of this present day, a overseas journalist encountered an incident of kidnapping by unknown folks, and instantly the specialised safety forces dispatched their duties to pursue the criminals, in keeping with correct intelligence info and an intensive discipline effort to trace the trail of the abductors”, the Ministry stated in a publish on social media.
The ministry said that whereas the safety forces had been pursuing the car belonging to the abductors, it overturned. Nevertheless, the forces had been in a position to arrest one of many accused and seized the autos used within the abduction.
“Investigations are nonetheless ongoing to totally uncover the circumstances of the incident,” learn the assertion.
Two Iraqi safety officers, who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t authorised to talk publicly concerning the case, stated the kidnapped journalist was a lady with US citizenship. They stated that two vehicles had been concerned within the kidnapping, certainly one of which crashed and was apprehended, whereas a second automobile fled the scene with the journalist, heading towards the south of Baghdad, reported Related Press.
A video aired by the Al Arabiya channel, whose authenticity couldn’t be independently verified by NDTV, reveals the preliminary moments of the kidnapping incident. The clip reveals armed males stopping her automobile on a busy avenue, pulling her out and fleeing.
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It was not instantly clear if the kidnapping was associated to the continued regional warfare, however Iran-backed militias in Iraq have launched common assaults on US amenities within the nation because the starting of the US-Israeli warfare on Iran.
Because the begin of the warfare, the US embassy has warned of kidnapping dangers and urged residents within the nation to depart.
Iraqi militias had additionally kidnapped foreigners earlier than the warfare.
Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton graduate scholar with Israeli and Russian citizenship, disappeared in Baghdad in 2023. After she was freed and handed over to US authorities in September 2025, she stated that she had been held by the Iran-allied Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah.
The group by no means formally claimed duty for kidnapping her.
(With inputs from companies)
