An American journalist, Shelly Kittleson, was kidnapped in Baghdad on Tuesday, Iraqi security forces said they were pursuing the captors. Iraqi officials said security forces launched an operation that included a chase involving two cars, arrests, and the seizure of a vehicle used in the kidnapping, as the U.S. said it was tracking reports and that her safety had been the subject of prior warnings.
Iraqi officials said the kidnapping involved two cars, with one vehicle crashing while it was being pursued near the town of Al-Haswa in Babil province southwest of Baghdad. They said the journalist was then transferred to a second car that fled the scene and that an alert was sent to checkpoints across Baghdad as security forces tracked the group toward Babil province.
The Iraqi interior ministry said security forces intercepted a vehicle belonging to the kidnappers that overturned as they attempted to flee. The ministry said one suspect was arrested and one of the vehicles used in the kidnapping was seized, but others remained at large, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
The interior ministry also confirmed that a foreign journalist had been kidnapped but did not provide more details. Two Iraqi security officials said the abducted journalist is a woman and a U.S. citizen, and they said the abduction took place on central Baghdad’s Saadoun Street.
One of the outlets Kittleson worked for identified her as freelancer Shelly Kittleson, and Al-Monitor, a regional news site that covers the Middle East, said it was “deeply alarmed” and identified the journalist as Kittleson. In a statement, Al-Monitor called for her “safe and immediate release,” saying it “stand[s] by her vital reporting from the region and call[s] for her swift return to continue her important work.”
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad declined to comment, but the State Department issued a statement saying the Trump administration “has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans” and that it was “tracking these reports.” Dylan Johnson, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for public affairs, said on X that the State Department previously “fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them,” adding that “an individual with ties to the Iranian-aligned militia group Kataib Hezbollah believed to be involved in the kidnapping has been taken into custody by Iraqi authorities.”
A second U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to privacy concerns, said the journalist had been warned multiple times, including as late as Monday night, that she was in danger and should leave Iraq immediately. Iraqi officials, in the account provided, had not publicly said anything about the kidnappers’ affiliation.
The report also highlighted a broader pattern of attacks and kidnappings that have followed the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. It said Iraqi militias in the country have attacked U.S. facilities since late February and that the U.S. Embassy has warned citizens in Iraq about kidnapping risks and urged Americans to leave. It cited a prior case involving Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton graduate student with Israeli and Russian citizenship who disappeared in Baghdad in 2023 and later said after being freed and handed to U.S. authorities in September 2025 that she had been held by Kataib Hezbollah.