{"id":56278,"date":"2026-04-07T19:35:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/56278\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T19:35:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:35:06","slug":"us-journalist-shelly-kittleson-to-be-freed-from-captivity-in-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/56278\/","title":{"rendered":"US journalist Shelly Kittleson to be freed from captivity in Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"

American<\/a> journalist Shelly Kittleson<\/a> is expected to be released on Tuesday after a week in captivity following her kidnapping in Baghdad, according to statements from the militia that held her.<\/p>\n

Kittleson, an award-winning journalist with Al-Monitor, was reporting on regional developments in the Iraqi<\/a> capital on March 31 when she was abducted by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian<\/a>-backed Iraqi militia group distinct from the Lebanese<\/a> organization Hezbollah<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Kataib Hezbollah said it would release Kittleson \u201cin appreciation of the patriotic positions\u201d of Iraq\u2019s prime minister, who had been involved in negotiations for her pending release, and ordered her to leave the country immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis initiative will not be repeated in the future,\u201d a group security commander known as Abu Mujahid Al-Asaf said in the statement. \u201cWe are in a state of war waged by the Zionist-American enemy against Islam, and in such situations many considerations are disregarded.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. officials are reportedly<\/a> waiting for Kittleson to be transferred to American custody.<\/p>\n

Two Iraqi security officials said Kittleson\u2019s release was secured in exchange for the freeing of several detained Kataib Hezbollah members. <\/p>\n

Kataib Hezbollah is part of Iran\u2019s \u201cAxis of Resistance\u201d<\/a> to attack U.S. troops during the ongoing Iran war.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since the start of Operation Epic Fury, Kataib Hezbollah and other Iran-backed militias have launched attacks on U.S. forces, U.S. Central Command<\/a> spokesman Tim Hawkins said in a March statement<\/a> to the Washington Examiner.<\/p>\n

\u201cU.S. forces<\/a> have taken action in response to attacks from Iran-backed Iraqi militia groups against American forces and personnel since the start of Operation Epic Fury,\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cWe will not hesitate to protect our people.\u201d <\/p>\n

On Thursday, the State Department<\/a> issued a security alert<\/a> urging Americans in Iraq to leave the country, warning that militant groups had targeted U.S. citizens for kidnapping, likely referencing Kittleson\u2019s abduction.<\/p>\n

TRUMP SAYS IRAN HAS \u201948 HOURS BEFORE ALL HELL WILL REIGN DOWN ON THEM\u2019 OVER HORMUZ BLOCKADE<\/a><\/p>\n

The militant groups have not caused any \u201csignificant injuries\u201d to American forces in or near Iraq, according to a CENTCOM official\u2019s statement to the Washington Examiner last month. The official added that the threat posed by the militias has had \u201cno impact\u201d on the U.S. goals in Iran.<\/p>\n

While it has engaged U.S. forces in Iraq, other allied groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen\u2019s Houthis, have focused their attacks primarily on Israel during the war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"American journalist Shelly Kittleson is expected to be released on Tuesday after a week in captivity following her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[34,94,2751,49,1330,2174],"class_list":{"0":"post-56278","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iraq","8":"tag-iran","9":"tag-iraq","10":"tag-journalism","11":"tag-middle-east","12":"tag-state-department","13":"tag-u-s-central-command"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116365107032264841","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56278","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=56278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}