1 day ago
8
BAGHDAD (AP) — An American writer was kidnapped Tuesday successful Baghdad and Iraqi information forces are pursuing her captors, Iraqi officials said.
The writer was identified arsenic freelancer Shelly Kittleson by 1 of the outlets she worked for.
The Iraqi interior ministry said successful a connection that a overseas writer had been kidnapped, without giving much details astir the person's identity.
Two Iraqi information officials, who spoke connected information of anonymity due to the fact that they were not authorized to talk publically astir the case, said the kidnapped writer was a pistillate with U.S. citizenship.
They said that 2 cars were progressive successful the kidnapping, 1 of which crashed and was apprehended portion being pursued by authorities adjacent the municipality of Al-Haswa successful Babil state southwest of Baghdad, and the writer was transferred to a 2nd car that fled the scene.
The interior ministry said that information forces had launched an cognition to way down the kidnappers, “acting connected precise quality and done intensive tract operations” aft intercepting a conveyance belonging to the kidnappers that overturned arsenic they tried to flee.
One fishy was arrested and 1 of the vehicles utilized successful the kidnapping was seized, but others stay connected the loose, the connection said.
The 2 information sources said the writer was kidnapped from cardinal Baghdad, connected Saadoun Street. They added that an alert was circulated to each checkpoints, starring to a pursuit of the kidnappers arsenic they headed southwest of Baghdad toward Babil province.
Al-Monitor, a determination quality tract covering the Middle East, identified the writer kidnapped Tuesday successful Baghdad arsenic Kittleson, a freelancer who contributed to the publication. In a statement, Al-Monitor said it is “deeply alarmed” by her kidnapping.
“We telephone for her harmless and contiguous release,” the connection said. “We basal by her captious reporting from the portion and telephone for her swift instrumentality to proceed her important work.”
Kittleson has been a longtime freelancer successful the region, reporting extensively from Syria and Iraq.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy successful Baghdad declined to comment.
The U.S. State Department said successful a statement, “The Trump Administration has nary higher precedence than the information and information of Americans" and that it is “tracking these reports.”
"Due to privateness and different considerations, we person thing further to stock astatine this time,” the connection said.
It was not instantly wide if the kidnapping was related to the ongoing determination war, but Iran-backed militias successful Iraq person launched regular attacks connected U.S. facilities successful the state since the opening of the U.S.-Israeli warfare connected Iran.
Since the commencement of the war, the U.S. Embassy has warned of kidnapping risks and urged citizens successful the state to leave.
Iraqi militias had besides kidnapped foreigners earlier the war.
Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton postgraduate pupil with Israeli and Russian citizenship, disappeared successful Baghdad successful 2023. After she was freed and handed implicit to U.S. authorities successful September 2025, she said that she had been held by the Iran-allied Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah.
The radical ne'er officially claimed work for kidnapping her.
——-
Associated Press writers Abby Sewell successful Beirut, Stella Martany successful Irbil, Iraq, and Matthew Lee successful Washington contributed.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.
English (US) ·