Iraq's Interior Ministry says a foreign journalist was kidnapped, rescue efforts underway |
US journalist kidnapped in Iraq, rescue efforts underway
The Iraqi government said Tuesday that a foreign female journalist was kidnapped and that it is pursuing operations to track down the perpetrators and secure her release.
Iraq’s Interior Ministry said the woman was kidnapped in the evening and that security forces pursued the kidnappers, resulting in the interception of a vehicle, which overturned as the perpetrators attempted to flee.
The interior ministry said that security forces were able to arrest one of the suspects and seize one of the vehicles used in the crime.
“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,” according to a statement originally written in Arabic.
The interior ministry did not identify the journalist. The Hill has reached out to the State Department for comment.
Alex Plitsas, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council and a former Pentagon official, posted on the social platform X that the kidnapped journalist is Shelly Kittleson, adding that he is her designated U.S. point of contact.
“She’s the sweetest person in the world and she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body,” Plitsas said in a text to The Hill, adding she’s an American citizen who has worked in Iraq for years and also reported from Syria.
He said in his original post that any information on her whereabouts and condition should be provided to law enforcement and can be delivered to him through a direct message on X.
“I can confirm that my friend Shelly Kittleson was abducted and may have taken hostage in Baghdad by Khatib [sic] Hezbollah,” he wrote.
“Whereabouts and condition unknown. I am her designated U.S. point of contact. If you have information please provide to law enforcement and send me a DM.”
Kittleson was a contributor to the online newssite Al-Monitor, which said in a statement that the organization is “deeply alarmed” by her kidnapping and called 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,” Al Monitor said in a statement.
Kataib Hezbollah is a powerful, Iranian-backed militia in Iraq and held Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov hostage for two-and-a-half years before she was freed with the intervention on the U.S. Tsurkov has detailed the torture and sexual assault she endured during her captivity in media interviews and her own account in an article published by The Atlantic.
The militia is reportedly closely aligned with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and is described as founded on an anti-American sentiment with the goal of driving U.S. forces from Iraq.
But the group is also reported to be partly financed by the Iraqi government.
Updated at 3:07 p.m. EDT
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