US journalist in Iraq freed one week after she was kidnapped by Kataeb Hezbollah

Freelance reporter Shelly Kittleson had been held in Baghdad, says source, and was ordered to ‘leave the country immediately’ after being released by Iran-backed militia

American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad street corner last week, has been released, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on Tuesday.

Kittleson was freed in the afternoon, said an Iraqi official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. He did not share her current whereabouts but said that prior to her release, she had been held in Baghdad.

The powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataeb Hezbollah said in a statement earlier in the day that it had decided to free Kittleson, who was abducted on March 31.

The group said its decision came “in appreciation of the patriotic stances of the outgoing prime minister,” Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, without giving more details. It added that “this initiative will not be repeated in the future.”

The statement added a condition — that Kittleson must “leave the country immediately” upon her release.

Rubio said in his statement, “The US Department of State extends its appreciation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of War, US personnel across multiple agencies, and the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council and our Iraqi partners, for their assistance in securing her release.”

This resolution reflects the Trump Administration’s steadfast commitment to the safety and security of American citizens, no matter where they are in the world,” he continued. “We are relieved that this American is now free and are working to support her safe departure from Iraq.”

Kataeb Hezbollah had not previously acknowledged that it was the one responsible for Kittleson’s abduction, although both US and Iraqi officials had pointed fingers at the group.

Two officials within the militia, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, told the AP that in exchange for freeing Kittleson, several members of the group who had previously been detained by Iraqi authorities would be released.

Kittleson, 49, a freelance journalist, had lived abroad for years before the kidnapping, using Rome as her base for a time and building a respected journalism career across the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Syria. Like many freelancers, she often worked on a shoestring budget and without the protections afforded by large news organizations to staff.

She had entered Iraq again shortly before her abduction. US officials have said that they warned her multiple times of threats against her, but that she did not want to leave.

Iraqi officials have said that two cars were involved in the kidnapping, one of which crashed while being pursued near the town of al-Haswa in Babil province, southwest of Baghdad. The journalist was then transferred to a second car that fled the scene.

Three Iraqi officials said earlier Tuesday that attempts to negotiate her release had run into obstacles.

The two Iraqi security officials and one official from the pro-Iran Coordination Framework political bloc spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the sensitive case publicly.

One of the security officials said that an official with the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-backed militias that is nominally under the control of the Iraqi military, had been tasked with communicating with the abductors to secure Kittleson’s release but had run into difficulties in communicating with the Kataeb Hezbollah leadership.

“The primary challenge is that the leaders of the Kataeb militia — specifically, the commanders of the battalions — are nowhere to be found. No one knows their whereabouts, and the process of establishing contact with them is extremely complex,” they said. “These leaders have gone underground, maintaining no active lines of communication, out of fear of being targeted.”

The political official said a message had been sent to the Kataeb leadership to determine their demands in exchange for releasing the kidnapped journalist. Iraqi authorities were willing to release six Kataeb Hezbollah members who are currently detained, most of them in connection with attacks on a US base in Syria, they said.

Kataeb Hezbollah has previously been accused of kidnapping foreigners.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton graduate student with Israeli and Russian citizenship, disappeared in Baghdad in 2023. After she was freed and handed over to US authorities in September 2025, she said that she had been held by Kataeb Hezbollah.