{"id":53693,"date":"2026-04-06T07:30:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T07:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/53693\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T07:30:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T07:30:32","slug":"wisconsin-journalist-kidnapped-in-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/53693\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin journalist kidnapped in Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"

Calls are growing for the release of a Wisconsin<\/a> native who was kidnapped while reporting in the Middle East amid the United States’ and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran.<\/p>\n

Shelly Kittleson was working as a freelance journalist for AL-Monitor, an independent news organization that covers the Middle East, when she was kidnapped in Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The outlet confirmed the news of her kidnapping, writing in a statement<\/a> it is “deeply alarmed” by Kittleson’s disappearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call for her safe and immediate release. We stand by her vital reporting from the region and call for her swift return to continue her important work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson also addressed Kittleson\u2019s kidnapping on social media<\/a>, saying the State Department had warned Kittleson of threats against her and that the office is working with the FBI to ensure her release as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

“An individual with ties to the Iranian-aligned militia group Kataib Hizballah believed to be involved in the kidnapping has been taken into custody by Iraqi authorities,\u201d Johnson wrote. “Iraq remains at a Level 4 Travel Advisory and Americans are advised not to travel to Iraq for any reason and to leave Iraq now.”<\/p>\n

According to TMJ4<\/a>, Shelly Kittleson grew up in Darlington, southwestern Wisconsin, and spoke with her mother who said Kittleson had been living in the Middle East for about 20 years, and at the time of her kidnapping was living in Damascus, Syria.<\/p>\n

Kittleson is a graduate of Darlington High School, which provided Bring Me The News<\/a> with the following statement:<\/p>\n

“We are aware of reports that Shelly Kittleson, a graduate of Darlington High School, has been kidnapped while working abroad as a journalist.<\/p>\n

“Our thoughts are with Shelly and her family during this incredibly difficult time. We are hopeful for her safe return and are keeping her, her loved ones, and all those impacted in our thoughts.<\/p>\n

“Out of respect for Shelly\u2019s family and the sensitivity of this situation, we will not be providing further comment. We appreciate our community\u2019s understanding and request privacy for the family at this time.”<\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Bring Me The News<\/a> on Apr 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the WI News<\/a> section. Add Bring Me The News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Calls are growing for the release of a Wisconsin native who was kidnapped while reporting in the Middle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[17146,1711,21399,12758,94,18900,18830,377],"class_list":{"0":"post-53693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iraq","8":"tag-al-monitor","9":"tag-baghdad","10":"tag-darlington-high-school","11":"tag-dylan-johnson","12":"tag-iraq","13":"tag-kittleson","14":"tag-shelly-kittleson","15":"tag-the-middle-east"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116356594021077186","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}