US Journalist Shelly Kittleson Released After Being Kidnapped in Iraq

AI Summary

American journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in Baghdad last week and has been released, according to an Iraqi official. Kittleson was abducted by Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah, which claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and stated that she was freed in appreciation of the patriotic stances of the outgoing prime minister.

American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad street corner last week, has been released, according to an Iraqi official with direct knowledge of the situation. Kittleson was freed in the afternoon, and before her release, she had been held in Baghdad.

The powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement earlier in the day it had decided to free Kittleson, who was abducted on March 31. The group said its decision came “in appreciation of the patriotic stances of the outgoing prime minister”, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, without giving more details. It added: “This initiative will not be repeated in the future.”

The statement also included a condition – that Kittleson must “leave the country immediately” upon her release. Kittleson, 49, a freelance journalist, had lived abroad for years before the kidnapping, using Rome as her base for a time and building a respected journalism career across the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Syria.

Kataib Hezbollah has previously been accused of kidnapping foreigners, including Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton graduate student with Israeli and Russian citizenship, who disappeared in Baghdad in 2023 and was freed in September 2025. The group never officially claimed responsibility for kidnapping her.

Iran-backed militias in Iraq have also launched regular attacks on US facilities in the country since the beginning of the US-Israeli war on Iran.