Iran-backed militants kidnap U.S. journalist in Baghdad

The kidnapping of American freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson in Baghdad has sparked an urgent international recovery mission involving the FBI and Iraqi security forces. Captured on surveillance video, the abduction took place in broad daylight, leading to a high-speed pursuit by the Iraqi Interior Ministry that resulted in a suspect’s vehicle overturning and one individual being taken into custody. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Dylan Johnson identified the captured suspect as having ties to an Iran-backed militia, the same group responsible for the previous two-year captivity of Russian-Israeli citizen Elizabeth Tsurkov. This incident highlights the extreme risks faced by U.S. citizens in Iraq, which remains under a Level 4 Travel Advisory, especially as regional tensions escalate amid the U.S.-Israeli military operations against Iran.