Shelly Kittleson, US journalist kidnapped in Iraq, is freed
Shelly Kittleson, US journalist kidnapped in Iraq, is freed
Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY Tue, April 7, 2026 at 11:07 PM UTC
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An American journalist kidnapped in Iraq has been released, according to multiple reports.
Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah said on April 7 that it would release abducted U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson, reported Reuters, the New York Times and the . The group added that she must leave Iraq immediately.
Kittleson, 49, was kidnapped on March 31 on a busy street in central Baghdad, Reuters and USA TODAY previously reported. Both U.S. and Iraqi officials said Kataib Hezbollah was responsible for the abduction, and the group offered on April 1 to negotiate with the Iraqi government for her release in exchange for several militia members being held by authorities, according to the New York Times.
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A spokesperson for Kataib Hezbollah said Kittleson was freed "in appreciation of the patriotic positions” of Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who had been negotiating for her release, reported the AP and the Times.
“This initiative will not be repeated in the future,” the militia's statement said, according to the same sources. "We are in a state of war waged by the Zionist-American enemy against Islam and in such situations, many considerations are disregarded.”
The U.S. and Iraqi governments have not yet confirmed Kittleson's release or whereabouts. USA TODAY reached out to Iraq's Ministry of Interior and the U.S. State Department for comment.
Shelly Kittleson, an American woman journalist who was kidnapped in Baghdad, in a location given as Damascus, Syria, in this image obtained from social media released on December 29, 2025.Who is Shelly Kittleson?
Kittleson is an independent journalist living in the Middle East, USA TODAY previously reported. Her work has appeared in multiple publications over the past decade, including Al Majalla, Al-Monitor, ANSA and RAI Radiotre, among other freelance work, according to her public LinkedIn account. Other social media profiles show she has worked for publications like BBC World Service and Politico.
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Kittleson also won the coveted Italian journalism award Premio Caravella in 2017 for her war zone reporting, according to the Italian Institute for International Political Studies.
Middle East news site Al-Monitor, which first identified Kittleson upon abduction, said she has covered several wars in the region and had contributed articles to the outlet. The publication called for her "safe and immediate release" after Iraq's Ministry of Interior confirmed the kidnapping in a March 31 Facebook post.
American officials had previously warned Kittleson of threats against her, according to a social media post from Dylan Johnson, a U.S. State Department senior official. Johnson said in other posts that the State Department and FBI were working to secure her release "as quickly as possible."
Kittelson is originally from Mount Horeb, a small village in south-central Wisconsin, her mother, Barb Kittleson, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY network, on April 1.
"She just wanted to help people. She’s just a journalist," her mother said.
This story will be .
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Journalist Shelly Kittleson released after Iraq kidnapping
Source: “AOL General News”
