American journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia backed by Iran and designated by the US as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), on March 31 in downtown Baghdad. The US Embassy in Baghdad had issued an evacuation advisory for all American citizens in the country on March 3. This notice was due to the threat posed by Iran-backed militias, including Kataib Hezbollah, which have been conducting attacks against the American military and diplomatic presence in the region as well as economic interests, since February 28.
Videos circulating on social media reportedly show Kittleson being forced into a car. Iraqi media reported that the abduction occurred on Al Saadoun Street just across the river from the Green Zone, the heavily fortified area of Baghdad that is home to government buildings and the US embassy.
The Iraqi Ministry of the Interior issued a statement acknowledging the kidnapping and said security forces had followed the kidnappers. “The follow-up and pursuit operations resulted in the encirclement of a vehicle belonging to the kidnappers, which led to it overturning while they were trying to escape. The security forces were able to arrest one of the accused and seize one of the vehicles used in the crime,” the statement said. The vehicle crash occurred in Babil, south of Baghdad. Kittleson had already been transferred to a second car, which escaped. The Ministry of the Interior’s statement said the kidnapping was conducted by “unknown individuals.”
“The U.S. Department of State is aware of the reported kidnapping of an American journalist in Baghdad, Iraq,” US Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson stated yesterday. Johnson also pointed to the Iraqi militia as the perpetrator of the attack, saying, “An individual with ties to the Iranian-aligned militia group Kataib Hizballah believed to be involved in the kidnapping has been taken into custody by Iraqi authorities.”
Johnson confirmed that the US government had warned Kittleson of a threat against her, a claim confirmed by Alex Plitas, a national security analyst and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who was her designated US point of contact. Plitas said that Kittleson was warned that Kataib Hezbollah had her name and was interested in killing or kidnapping female journalists.
Kataib Hezbollah also kidnapped Princeton researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Russian-Israeli citizen, in March 2023 and held her for over 900 days. She was freed in September 2025 after the Trump administration intervened to push for her release.
Bridget Toomey is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies focusing on Iranian proxies, specifically Iraqi militias and the Houthis.
Tags: Iraq, Kataib Hezbollah, PMF
