Abducted US journalist Kittleson released by Iraqi armed group, Rubio says

BAGHDAD: The Iraqi resistance group Kataib Hezbollah has released abducted U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson, U.S. Secretary of State Marco ​Rubio said on Tuesday.

Officials from the Pentagon, the FBI, and ‌the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council were among the people who assisted in securing Kittleson’s release, Rubio said in a statement. She was abducted in late ​March in Baghdad.

“We are relieved that this American is now ​free and are working to support her safe departure ⁠from Iraq,” he added.

Kataib Hezbollah had said earlier on Tuesday that ​it would release Kittleson and that she must immediately leave Iraq.

Her ​release follows intensified efforts by the Iraqi government and several influential Shi’ite leaders, who applied pressure on the militia group to secure her freedom, a government ​official with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

Middle East news ​site Al-Monitor said Kittleson was a U.S. freelance journalist based in Rome who ‌had ⁠covered several wars in the region and had contributed articles to the outlet.

A video purporting to show Kittleson was shared by a social media outlet close to Kataib Hezbollah on Tuesday.

Reuters could not ​independently verify the authenticity ​of the ⁠video, which if confirmed, would be the first images of Kittleson published since her kidnapping.

In the video, ​a woman identifying herself as Kittleson appears standing ​against a ⁠plain background, speaking in English directly to the camera. Reuters could not verify when or where it was filmed.

In March 2023, an ⁠Israeli-Russian graduate ​student from Princeton University, Elizabeth Tsurkov, ​was kidnapped by Kataib Hezbollah militia during a research trip to Iraq. She was released ​in 2025.