Journalist kidnapped in Iraq, country’s Interior Ministry says

Suspected Iranian-backed militants kidnapped an American journalist in Iraq on Tuesday, primarily primarily based on the Yelp Division and the Iraqi Interior Ministry.

The journalist used to be known in the hours after her kidnapping came to gentle as freelancer Shelly Kittleson. Al-Video display, surely one of the most publications she works for, known as for her “safe and immediate release.”

Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of say for world affairs, said on X that the Yelp Division used to be “aware of the reported kidnapping of an American journalist in Baghdad, Iraq.”

He said the Yelp Division had “previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them” and would “continue to coordinate with the FBI to ensure their release as quickly as possible.”

FBI agents visited Kittleson’s household Wednesday, primarily primarily based on a U.S. authentic.

Barb Kittleson, Shelly’s mother, suggested NBC affiliate WTMJ of Milwaukee that her daughter has been living in the Center East and working as a journalist for roughly twenty years. She said she last heard from her daughter Monday.

Johnson said a particular person believed to were fascinated about the kidnapping had been captured and used to be in Iraqi custody. The particular person has ties to the Iranian-aligned militia crew Kataib Hezbollah, Johnson said.

He added that Iraq remained the field of a Level 4 Commute Advisory, with Americans told “not to travel to Iraq for any reason and to leave Iraq now.”

Iraq’s Interior Ministry said in an announcement that security forces pursued the abductors’ vehicle, which overturned as they fled.

Surveillance video from the scene verified by NBC News looks to clutch the 2d Kittleson is bundled valid into a vehicle, earlier than a separate video presentations the automobile speeding down a avenue in Baghdad.

“Security forces were able to arrest one of the suspects and seize one of the vehicles used in the crime,” the ministry said in an announcement.

“The Ministry affirms that efforts are ongoing to track down the remaining individuals involved, secure the release of the kidnapped journalist, and take all necessary legal measures against all those involved in this criminal act, in accordance with the law.”

Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Russian-Israeli citizen, used to be kidnapped and held captive by Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq for greater than two years earlier than she used to be launched in September.

When Tsurkov, a Princeton University graduate student, used to be launched, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that she had been freed “after being tortured for many months.”

For the explanation that U.S. and Israel launched a protection force advertising and marketing campaign in Iran, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has been warning that militias inner Iraq can also simply attempt to kidnap Americans.

In a security alert Sunday, the embassy warned that “U.S. citizens choosing to remain in Iraq are doing so at significant risk.”