American journalist Shelly Kittleson abducted in Iraq -monitor.com

American freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson was abducted in Baghdad on Tuesday, Iraq’s Interior Ministry said, as security forces work to track down the perpetrators.

The ministry said in a statement that an operation was launched immediately based on what it called “precise intelligence.” It said that Iraqi authorities had intercepted one of the vehicles believed to belong to her abductors that flipped over as they tried to flee, but Kittleson was not in that vehicle. Local news reports indicated she was abducted near the Baghdad Hotel on Saadoun Street.

The State Department said a suspect taken into custody by Iraqi authorities had ties to the pro-Iranian militia Kataib Hezbollah. 

“The State Department strongly advise[s] all Americans, including members of the press, to adhere to all travel advisories,” Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson said in a statement.

“The State Department previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them and we will continue to coordinate with the FBI to ensure their release as quickly as possible,” Johnson said. 

Kittleson’s kidnapping recalls that of Russian Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov at a Baghdad cafe in March 2023. She was held hostage by Kataib Hezbollah for 903 days before she was freed under a deal that was brokered by the United States. 

Kittleson, an American citizen who has spent years in Italy and is currently based in Rome, is known for her courageous reporting from war zones in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Kittleson has no known agenda and has contributed to numerous publications, including Al-Monitor. Trump administration sources confirmed to Al-Monitor that they were aware of the threat against her and had advised her against traveling to Iraq.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a US official said the State Department is aware of Kittleson’s kidnapping and is working with the Iraqi government to secure her release. Another US official said Kittleson was contacted multiple times with warnings of the threats against her, including as recently as Monday night.

You can read Al-Monitor’s statement on the kidnapping here. 

This developing story has been updated.