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Where is Shelly Kittleson now? American journalist was warned of threats days before kidnapping, officials say
American journalist Shelly Kittleson was warned of threats even the night before she was kidnapped, officials have said.
American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was reportedly kidnapped by Iran-backed militant group Kataib Hezbollah in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, had attempted to cross from Syria into Iraq three weeks earlier, according to The Associated Press. However, she was initially turned back, an Iraqi official said Wednesday, April 1.
Both US and Iraqi officials have said that Kittleson had been warned of threats against her in the days before she was kidnapped.
Hussein Alawi, an adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, claimed that Kittleson tried to enter via the al-Qaim crossing from Syria on March 9. However, she was turned back for not having a press work permit, and over security concerns due to “the escalation of the war and aerial projectiles over Iraqi airspace as a result of the war on Iran.”
Later, Kittleson entered the country after obtaining a single-entry visa to Iraq valid for 60 days. This is issued to allow foreign citizens stranded in neighboring countries to “transit through Iraq to reach their home countries via available transport routes,” Alawi said.
He added that Kittleson entered Baghdad a few days before her abduction. She was staying in a hotel in the capital. “The incident is being followed closely by Iraqi security and intelligence agencies under the supervision of” al-Sudani, Alawi said, adding that a suspect believed to be involved in the kidnapping plot has been arrested and is under interrogation.
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Iraqi officials reportedly managed to arrest the suspect after chasing Kittleson’s captors. He was held after the car he was driving crashed, but the other kidnappers managed to escape with the journalist in a second car.
Where is Shelly Kittleson now?
Kittleson remains missing following her abduction. An Iraqi intelligence official revealed anonymously that Iraqi authorities believe she is being held in Baghdad, and are trying to find her and secure her release. He added that authorities “have information about the abducting party.”
No one has claimed responsibility for Kittleson’s kidnapping, but US officials believe she was taken by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-linked Iraqi militia that has been implicated in previous abductions of foreigners.
The Iraqi intelligence official said that before Kittleson was kidnapped, Iraqis had contacted US officials and told them about a specific kidnapping threat against her by Iran-affiliated militias.Dylan Johnson, US assistant secretary of state for public affairs, said on social media that the “State Department previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them.”
A US official said on condition of anonymity, “She was contacted multiple times with warnings of the threats against her,” including the night before she was kidnapped.
Kittleson’s mother, 72-year-old Barb Kittleson, spoke to The Associated Press at her home in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. She said she last exchanged emails with her daughter on Monday, and that her daughter had sent her photos of herself from Iraq.
“Journalism is what she wanted to do so bad,” Barb said. “I wanted her to come home and not do it, but she said, ‘I’m helping people.’”
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Kittleson’s kidnapping was caught on camera, with footage from local outlets shared on X reportedly showing her being bundled into the back of a car by armed men who stopped her at a busy intersection in Baghdad. Kittleson has written extensively for BBC World, Politico, and Foreign Policy.
Kittleson was reportedly ambushed near the Baghdad Hotel, located close to the heavily-militarized Green Zone. Two vehicles were reportedly involved in her kidnapping.
