By Anas al-Bar | 2026-04-14

The Iraqi armed group Kataib Hizbullah released American journalist Shelley Kittleson on April 7 after a week of abduction in Baghdad.

Iran-backed Kataib Hizbullah's plot to kidnap a female journalist undermines Iraqi sovereignty and supports the Iranian regime's destabilizing activity.

The United States secured her release, advising all US citizens, including journalists, to immediately leave Iraq.

The State Department, coordinating with the FBI, intensified diplomatic efforts with Iraq to secure her swift release.

Kittleson’s fate had remained unknown for a week after militia elements abducted her from al-Saadoun Street in central Baghdad.

Surveillance footage captured her forced entry into a vehicle, which then crashed in Babil province. Kittleson was transferred to a second vehicle that escaped.

The accident led to the capture of an abductor carrying an identification document linking him to the militia.

Security affairs expert Ahmed al-Sharifi described the abduction to Al-Fassel as a "grave security breach."

He noted that "video footage showed the broad daylight incident occurred in an area dense with diplomatic missions and foreign interests."

"Targeting foreign nationals damages Iraq's international reputation and security achievements," al-Sharifi added.

Kataib Hizbullah's abduction of Kittleson is part of a pattern, having also seized Russian-Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov from a Baghdad café on March 21, 2023.