BAGHDAD – An Iranian-backed militia organization announced Tuesday that it plans to free American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped in Baghdad, but is demanding her immediate departure from Iraq.
The Iran-aligned group Kataib Hezbollah took Kittleson captive in Baghdad during the final days of March.
According to Middle East publication Al-Monitor, Kittleson works as an independent American correspondent operating from Rome who has reported on multiple conflicts throughout the region and has written pieces for their publication.
On Tuesday, a social media platform with ties to Kataib Hezbollah distributed a video that allegedly shows Kittleson.
Reuters was unable to confirm independently whether the video is genuine, though if authentic, it would mark the first footage of Kittleson made public since her abduction.
The footage shows a woman who says she is Kittleson positioned in front of a simple backdrop, addressing the camera in English. Reuters could not confirm the location or timing of the recording.
According to a government source familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters, her pending release comes after increased pressure from Iraq’s government and prominent Shiite religious figures who urged the militia to free her.
This follows a similar incident in March 2023 when Kataib Hezbollah militants abducted Elizabeth Tsurkov, a graduate student from Princeton University with Israeli-Russian citizenship, during an academic research visit to Iraq. She was freed in 2025.
