Security concerns and kidnappings in Baghdad have prompted many journalists to leave the country [Getty]

The kidnapping of US freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson in Baghdad in March has left foreign journalists in the country afraid prompting to leave as the US-Israel war on Iran spills over into Iraq.

The deteriorating security situation in the country has caused dozens of journalists to quickly leave Iraq following warnings issued by their embassies.

The US and British embassies are among those which have called on reporters in the country to leave, as the atmosphere becomes more hostile to journalists and amid the rising activity of armed factions.

Abduction of Kittleson

Kittleson was kidnapped on 31 March, with the Iraqi interior ministry saying that security forces tried to apprehend her abductors.

However on 7 April, a spokesperson for the group, Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, said that Kittleson would be freed “in appreciation of the patriotic stances of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani”.

He added that the group considers itself to be “in a state of war waged by the Zionist-American enemy against Islam, and in such cases, many considerations are disregarded”.

The group has launched several attacks since the US-Israeli war on Iran, including on military bases and infrastructure.

According to reports, the group has also been behind a number of kidnappings of foreign activists and researchers in the country.

In the week following Kittleson’s release, Iraqi spokesperson Bassem al-Awadi confirmed that “the Iraqi government dealt with the kidnapping of the foreign national with utmost care and direct supervision”.

He also noted that “relevant security agencies carried out their duties with high efficiency and professionalism, which resulted in her release being secured”.

He also called her kidnapping a “reprehensible crime that cannot be tolerated” and vowed that the government would be undertaking special efforts to protect all residents and diplomatic missions.

Journalists flee Iraq

Despite the release of Kittleson, dozens of foreign journalists in the country have over the last few weeks left Baghdad, with many of them going to Erbil, in the Kurdistan region and others going to Jordan or Turkey.

Only a small number of journalists have chosen to remain in Baghdad while taking strict security measures, staying in areas located near embassies or in hotels known for their high level of security.

The New Arab spoke to several Iraqi journalists who work with British and US media outlets, who confirmed that “most” of their foreign colleagues had left the capital.

The journalists added that the wave of departures started after the al-Rashid Hotel in the capital was bombed in mid-March, noting that the building housed several offices for foreign news outlets and correspondents.

One journalist, who asked to remain anonymous, told The New Arab that the increased targeting of media professionals is making the country “gradually turn into an area empty of the media, as was the case before 2003”.

The journalist added that around 10 foreign journalists remain in Baghdad, and their movement has become heavily restricted and that they struggle to go out in public, even to cafes.

Iraq ranked 155th out of 180 countries on the Reporters Without Borders 2025 World Press Freedom Index, which highlighted that journalists in the country “face constant threats due to the weakness of the state and its institutions which fail to protect them”.