OAN Staff Lillian Mann
10:26 AM – Wednesday, April 1, 2026
American journalist Shelly Kittleson was abducted in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, with one of the suspects being connected to an Iranian-backed militia group, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.
Kittleson was reportedly kidnapped on Tuesday by four men in civilian clothes on Saddoun Street in central Baghdad. As authorities pursued the two vehicles involved, one crashed in Al-Haswa, in Babil province, southwest of the city. The journalist was then transferred to a second vehicle, which fled the scene.
The suspect recovered from the crashed vehicle was taken into custody. However, the rest of the suspects remain on the loose, with U.S. and Iraqi security forces currently pursuing the remaining captors.
The captured individual reportedly holds ties to the pro-Iranian militia group known as Kataib Hezbollah, according to former Pentagon official Alex Plitsas, who was Kittleson’s U.S. point of contact. After confirming the news on the platform X, Plitsas explained that the group is allegedly financed in part by the Iraqi government.
The freelance journalist is known for her daring reporting from war zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, often contributing to the new site Al Monitor.
“She’s the sweetest person in the world, and she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body,” Plitas said in a text to The Hill.
“We are deeply alarmed by the kidnapping of Al-Monitor contributor Shelly Kittleson in Iraq on Tuesday,” Al Monitor said in a statement. “We call for her safe and immediate release. We stand by her vital reporting from the region and call for her swift return to continue her important work.”
Several Trump administration sources have confirmed to Al- Monitor that they were aware of the threats against her and had advised her against traveling to Iraq.
Another U.S. official said that Kittleson had received several warnings of the threats against her, even as recently as Monday night.
“The State Department previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them and we will continue to coordinate with the FBI to ensure their release as quickly as possible,” Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson said in a statement.
Security sources added that an alert was circulated to all checkpoints, leading to a pursuit of the kidnappers as they headed toward Babil province.
Although no official link to the Iran conflict has been established, the abduction follows a pattern of regular attacks by Iran-backed militias on U.S. facilities in the country since the conflict began on February 28th.
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