U.S. journalist kidnapped in Baghdad, security forces hunt captors, says Iraqi officials

An American journalist was kidnapped Tuesday (March 31, 2026) in Baghdad, and Iraqi security forces are pursuing her captors, Iraqi officials said.

The journalist was identified as freelancer Shelly Kittleson by one of the outlets she worked for. The Iraqi Interior Ministry said in a statement that a foreign journalist had been kidnapped, without giving more details about the person’s identity.

Two Iraqi security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case, said the kidnapped journalist was a woman with U.S. citizenship.

They said that two cars were involved in the kidnapping, one of which crashed and was apprehended while being pursued by authorities near the town of Al-Haswa in Babil Province southwest of Baghdad, and the journalist was transferred to a second car that fled the scene.

The Interior Ministry said that security forces had launched an operation to track down the kidnappers, “acting on precise intelligence and through intensive field operations” after intercepting a vehicle belonging to the kidnappers that overturned as they tried to flee.

One suspect was arrested and one of the vehicles used in the kidnapping was seized, but others remain on the loose, the statement said.

The two security sources said the journalist was kidnapped from central Baghdad, on Saadoun Street. They added that an alert was circulated to all checkpoints, leading to a pursuit of the kidnappers as they headed southwest of Baghdad toward Babil province.

Al-Monitor, a regional news site covering West Asia, identified the journalist kidnapped on Tuesday (March 31) in Baghdad as Ms. Kittleson, a freelancer who contributed to the publication. In a statement, Al-Monitor said it is “deeply alarmed” by her kidnapping.

“We call for her safe and immediate release,” the statement said. “We stand by her vital reporting from the region and call for her swift return to continue her important work.”

Ms. Kittleson has been a long time freelancer in the region, reporting extensively from Syria and Iraq. A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad declined to comment.

The U.S. State Department said in a statement, “The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans” and that it is “tracking these reports.”

“Due to privacy and other considerations, we have nothing further to share at this time,” the statement said. It was not immediately clear if the kidnapping was related to the ongoing regional war, but Iran-backed militias in Iraq have launched regular attacks on U.S. facilities in the country since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Since the start of the war, the U.S. Embassy has warned of kidnapping risks and urged citizens in the country to leave. Iraqi militias had also kidnapped foreigners before the war.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton graduate student with Israeli and Russian citizenship, disappeared in Baghdad in 2023. After she was freed and handed over to U.S. authorities in September 2025, she said that she had been held by the Iran-allied Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah. The group never officially claimed responsibility for kidnapping her.