An American journalist is believed to have been seized by the Iranian-aligned Kataib Hezbollah militia in Baghdad, according to reports.
Shelly Kittleson, a freelance reporter known for her coverage of the Middle East and Afghanistan, was reportedly abducted by unidentified assailants near her accommodation in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry confirmed the abduction of a “foreign journalist” by unknown perpetrators and stated that security forces are actively tracking those responsible.
“The pursuit led to the interception of a vehicle used by the kidnappers, which overturned during their escape attempt,” the ministry announced, adding that one suspect has been apprehended.
Kittleson, who has contributed to the BBC, was allegedly taken near the Palestine Hotel on Al-Saadoun Street in central Baghdad.
Although no faction has taken responsibility, suspicions point towards Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group. This militia was also involved in the 2023 kidnapping of Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov.
Kittleson was not in the vehicle intercepted by Iraqi security forces and her whereabouts are said to be currently unknown.
The US State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment but a source said the department is working with the Iraqi government to secure her release.
In another dramatic day in the Middle East:
- Mr Trump is swinging between threatening widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and hinting he could just end the bombing campaign;
- Nigel Farage said it is a ‘mug’s game’ trying to guess what Mr Trump is aiming for in the Middle East;
- Extra UK troops are being sent to the Middle East to help the UK’s allies defend their skies from Iranian attacks;
- Rachel Reeves is believed to be getting £20million a day in extra revenue as a result of higher energy prices;
- Official figures show UK household disposable incomes fell between the end of 2024 and the end of 2025, even before the war erupted;
- In the latest sign of the risk to shipping a Kuwaiti oil tanker was attacked off the coast of Dubai;
- Israel has invaded southern Lebanon to push out Iran-backed Hezbollah militants;
Shelly Kittleson, a freelance reporter based in the Middle East and Afghanistan , was abducted by a group of unidentified men near her hotel in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday
The journalist has been kidnapped by an armed group in Baghdad, Iraqi officials have confirmed
Police sources said they were still chasing a vehicle in which she was taken by force by four men in civilian clothes.
The search is focused in the eastern part of the capital where the kidnappers’ vehicle was headed, police sources added.
Kittleson, who has worked for publications including the BBC, Al Monitor, Foreign Policy, and The National, has reported across Iraq and the Middle East.
She was in Baghdad to cover the impact of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful paramilitary group, has close links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Shiite group is responsible for the killing of US soldiers and is part of Iran’s Axis of Resistance, which also includes Hamas and the better known Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.
It is based in Baghdad and is designated a terrorist group by the US, the United Arab Emirates and Japan.
Kataib Hezbollah had warned its enemies they will ‘taste the bitterest forms of death’ if Donald Trump struck its backer, Iran.
Abu Hussein al‑Hamidawi, the group’s former chief, claimed the ‘forces of darkness’ are gathering to destroy Iran, adding: ‘We affirm to the enemies that war against the [Islamic] Republic will not be a walk in the park.
Kittleson had been staying in Baghdad to cover the impact of the US-Israeli war on Iran
‘But rather, you will taste the bitterest forms of death, and nothing will remain of you in our region.’
But the Iranian linked group confirmed that al‑Hamidawi was killed two weeks ago.
Kidnappings of journalists in Iraq are often linked to militia activity – a topic Kittleson has reported on.
In September, Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov was released after being abducted by Iraq’s pro-Iran faction Kataib Hezbollah.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said her release was the ‘culmination of extensive efforts exerted by our security services over the course of many months.
‘We reaffirm, once again, that we will not tolerate any compromise in enforcing the law and upholding the authority of the state, nor will we allow anyone to undermine the reputation of Iraq and its people,’ he said.
Tsurkov disappeared in March 2023 while on a research trip in Baghdad. The Israeli government announced months later that she had been kidnapped by the Shiite group Kataib Hezbollah or Hezbollah Brigades.
She had entered Iraq using her Russian passport, ‘at her own initiative pursuant to work on her doctorate and academic research on behalf of Princeton University,’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time.
By November of that year, the group released a video featuring Tsurkov, in which the Israeli-Russian academic claimed she was a Mossad and CIA agent.
But Tsurkov had been an expert on regional affairs in the Middle East – and specifically in war-torn Syria.
Days after her disappearance in March 2023, a local website even reported that an Iranian citizen who was involved in her kidnapping was detained by Iraqi authorities.
No group has claimed responsibility yet but there are fears Kataib Hezbollah (pictured), an Iranian-backed militia could be behind the kidnapping
The terror group also kidnapped Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov in 2023
It said the woman was kidnapped from Baghdad’s central neighborhood of Karradah and that Iran’s embassy in the Iraqi capital was pressing for the man’s release and to have him deported to Iran.
Some Iraqi activists posted a copy of a passport of an Iranian man at the time, claiming that he was involved in the kidnapping.
Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful Shiite group based in Iraq, is a separate group from the Hezbollah movement, an Iran-backed group in Lebanon.
But both groups are closely linked to Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and are listed by the US government as terrorist organizations.
