Shelly Kittleson, a US award-winning freelance journalist, was kidnapped by unidentified people in Baghdad on Tuesday. According to a report by Al-Monitor, sources from the Trump administration were aware of the threat against her and had advised her not to travel to Iraq.
Iraq’s Interior Ministry has confirmed that a foreign journalist has been kidnapped in Iraq, however, it did not provide any further details about the identity of the reporter.
“The Ministry of the Interior announces that, in the evening of this day, a foreign journalist encountered an incident of kidnapping by unknown people, and immediately the specialized security forces dispatched their duties to pursue the criminals, according to accurate intelligence information and an intensive field effort to track the path of the kidnappers”, the Ministry said in a post on social media.
The ministry stated that while the security forces were pursuing the vehicle belonging to the kidnappers, it overturned. However, the forces were able to arrest one of the accused and seized the vehicles used in the abduction.
“Investigations are still ongoing to fully uncover the circumstances of the incident,” read the statement.
Two Iraqi security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the case, said the kidnapped journalist was a woman with US citizenship. They said that two cars were involved in the kidnapping, one of which crashed and was apprehended, while a second car fled the scene with the journalist, heading toward the south of Baghdad, reported Associated Press.
A video aired by the Al Arabiya channel, whose authenticity could not be independently verified by NDTV, shows the initial moments of the kidnapping incident. The clip shows armed men stopping her car on a busy street, pulling her out and fleeing.
— Esam79 (@Esam793) March 31, 2026
UPDATE:
CONFIRMED Al-Monitor journalist
has been rescued by Iraqi Security Forces in a pursuit with Kataib Hezbollah kidnappers on their way to Jurf al-Sakhar, the car has been overturned with exchange of fire. Shelly got wounded and now she’s hospitalized.
