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US reporter kidnapped in Baghdad, police officials say

By AAP Newswire

Apr 1, 2026

Iraqi police — Iraqi authorities say efforts are ongoing to free a journalist who was kidnapped in Baghdad. -AP

A female US journalist has been kidnapped in Baghdad and ‌authorities are searching the city for her, two police officials say.

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The ‌Iraqi interior ministry confirmed the abduction of a female journalist but did not disclose her citizenship.

The ministry said one suspect was arrested and efforts were ongoing to free the journalist.

Police officials who ‌declined to ‌be named ⁠later identified the victim as Shelly Kittleson.

Middle East news site Al-Monitor said Kittleson is a US freelance journalist based in Rome who has covered several wars in the region and contributed articles to the outlet.

A US State Department official said ⁠the United States is tracking reports ‌of the kidnapping but declined to provide further details, citing privacy and other considerations.

The police officials said she was seized by four men in civilian clothes and taken in a vehicle.

The search is focused on the eastern part ‌of the capital where the kidnappers' vehicle was headed, they added.

An Israeli-Russian graduate student from Princeton University was kidnapped by an Iran-aligned Shi'ite militia during a research trip to Iraq in March 2023 and was released in 2025.