A US freelance journalist has been kidnapped in Iraq\u2019s capital, Baghdad, prompting an urgent international effort to secure her release after Iraqi authorities detained a suspect reportedly linked to an Iran-backed militia.<\/p>\n
Shelly Kittleson, a contributor to the US-based news outlet Al-Monitor, was abducted on Tuesday evening near a hotel in central Baghdad, according to reports from the publication and Iraqi officials.<\/p>\n
Iraq\u2019s interior ministry said security forces quickly launched an operation to track down the abductors, leading to a high-speed pursuit. Authorities said the chase ended when one of the kidnappers\u2019 vehicles overturned while attempting to flee, resulting in the arrest of one suspect.<\/p>\n
US officials later confirmed that the individual detained by Iraqi authorities has ties to Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-aligned militia group operating in Iraq.<\/p>\n
Dylan Johnson, the US assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, confirmed that an American journalist had been abducted but did not publicly name Kittleson. In a post on X, he said the State Department had previously warned the journalist about threats to her safety and was coordinating with the FBI to secure her release as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n
US officials had reportedly contacted Kittleson several times regarding possible threats, including a warning issued as recently as Monday night.<\/p>\n
The State Department said it is aware of the situation and is working closely with the Iraqi government but declined to provide further details, citing privacy and security considerations.<\/p>\n
Al-Monitor said it was \u201cdeeply alarmed\u201d by the kidnapping and called for Kittleson\u2019s immediate and safe release.<\/p>\n
An Iraqi official also told CBS News that authorities are working at the highest levels to locate the journalist and bring those responsible to justice.<\/p>\n
Kittleson\u2019s emergency contact, Alex Plitsas, a CNN national security analyst, told CBS that she had previously been warned by the US government about a specific threat from Iran-backed paramilitary groups.<\/p>\n
According to Plitsas, intelligence suggested Kataib Hezbollah had been planning to target female journalists, and Kittleson had been told her name appeared on a list held by the militia. Another source confirmed she had been informed about the potential threat, although she reportedly believed the warning might have been based on inaccurate information.<\/p>\n
In a statement translated from Arabic, Iraq\u2019s interior ministry said security forces acted on precise intelligence and intensive field operations to track the kidnappers\u2019 movements.<\/p>\n
The ministry said the pursuit led to the interception of the suspects\u2019 vehicle, which overturned during the attempted escape. Officials described the attackers as \u201cunknown individuals\u201d and did not publicly identify the arrested suspect.<\/p>\n
Authorities added that operations are continuing to locate the remaining perpetrators and secure the safe release of the abducted journalist, while legal action will be taken against all those involved.<\/p>\n
Kittleson, who is based in Rome, Italy, has covered conflicts across Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria throughout her career. Her reporting has appeared in several international publications.<\/p>\n
Sources familiar with the situation told CBS that multiple US and Iraqi agencies are involved in efforts to resolve the case, including the FBI, the National Security Council, the US State Department, Delta Force, and Iraq\u2019s Counter-Terrorism Service.<\/p>\n
Baghdad was once widely known for frequent kidnappings during the height of Iraq\u2019s insurgency. However, abductions have declined in recent years as the country\u2019s security situation has gradually improved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A US freelance journalist has been kidnapped in Iraq\u2019s capital, Baghdad, prompting an urgent international effort to secure her release after Iraqi authorities detained a suspect reportedly linked to an Iran-backed militia. Shelly Kittleson, a contributor to the US-based news outlet Al-Monitor, was abducted on Tuesday evening near a hotel in central Baghdad, according to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":15787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[113],"tags":[17958,3672,17955,17960,17956,17961,17957,17954,17952,17953,17959],"class_list":["post-15785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-al-monitor-journalist-shelly-kittleson","tag-amat","tag-american-reporter-kidnapped-baghdad","tag-baghdad-journalist-abduction-investigation","tag-iran-backed-militia-iraq-kidnapping","tag-iraq-militia-threat-female-journalists","tag-iraqi-security-forces-rescue-operation","tag-kataib-hezbollah-kidnapping-suspect","tag-shelly-kittleson-kidnapped-baghdad","tag-us-journalist-abducted-iraq","tag-us-state-department-kidnapping-response"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}