Moment US journalist Shelly Kittleson appears to be kidnapped in Baghdad caught on CCTV

WorldPolitics
2 Apr 2026 • 5:50 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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CCTV appears to show the moment US journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in Baghdad on Tuesday, 31 March.

Video obtained by the Associated Press shows what seems to be the moment the freelance reporter, who has worked for years in Iraq and Syria, went missing.

Two men approach a person standing on a street corner and usher them into the back of a car. There appears to be a brief struggle to shut the vehicle door before the men get into it, and it drives away.

Ms Kittleson remains missing as of Wednesday. US and Iraqi officials said she had been warned of threats against her.

Hussein Alawi, an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, said that one suspect believed to be involved in the kidnapping plot has been arrested and is being interrogated.

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