A journalist has been taken captive by a suspected armed group in Iraq, and video footage purportedly captures the moment of the abduction. The Iraqi interior ministry reported that a female “foreign journalist was seized by unidentified individuals” in Baghdad on Tuesday evening, with security forces actively pursuing the perpetrators. The journalist, identified as Shelly Kittleson by Al-Monitor, has contributed to various news outlets such as Foreign Policy, BBC World Service, and Politico.
Kittleson, a freelance reporter from the US stationed in the Middle East and Afghanistan, was reportedly taken near the Palestine Hotel in central Baghdad. Authorities managed to intercept a vehicle believed to be linked to the kidnappers, resulting in the arrest of one suspect. Efforts are ongoing to locate the remaining perpetrators and secure the journalist’s release.
Al Arabiya shared footage showing two men in dark attire forcing a woman into a car before speeding away. The pursuit of the kidnappers led southwest toward Babil province from the vicinity of the abduction. The Iraqi interior ministry announced a swift response, stating that security forces swiftly launched an operation based on precise intelligence to apprehend the culprits and have already made progress in the case.
This incident follows the kidnapping of Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian graduate student, by an Iran-aligned Shia militia group during a research trip to Iraq in March 2023. Tsurkov was later freed in September 2025, with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani acknowledging the extensive efforts made by security services for her release.
