American journalist confesses to gathering intelligence

Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-linked Shiite militia group operating in Iraq, released footage of American journalist Shelly Kittleson while in captivity. In the footage, the journalist is seen confessing that she carried out intelligence-gathering activities for the U.S. consul in Baghdad.

In the statement made while in captivity, the American journalist said, "My name is Shelly Renee Kittleson. I am a freelance journalist and an American citizen. I live in Italy. I speak English, Italian, and Arabic. I have been working as a war correspondent in Iraq since 2015. I am in contact with the Peshmerga and the Iraqi Armed Forces. I have previously worked in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Syria as well. In 2025, I received training from American officers in Syria for three months. The same applies to Ukraine."

Confessing that she gathered intelligence on behalf of the U.S., Kittleson said, "The American consul in Baghdad has asked me for years for information about the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and the resistance groups Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba, and especially about the Secretary-General of Kataib Hezbollah, Ahmed al-Hamidawi, and other leaders whose names I do not recall. I gathered information, but it was not enough, and they wanted more. On my last trip, they asked me for political and intelligence-related information regarding the Iraqi people's view of the war, and I conducted work on this. I also worked on the base that the resistance groups rely on, which includes their leaders."

"The Trump administration and its foolish policies"

Criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump, Kittleson stated, "As American citizens, our safety was in a better state before the Trump administration. We could walk freely on the streets of Baghdad without needing security escorts. Now, our lives are under threat, and this is entirely the result of the Trump administration and its foolish policies. Thousands of Americans working here lost their jobs and left. Their families living in America have become unable to find money to make ends meet. This is entirely the result of the Trump administration and its foolish policies. I request that these brave men who are members of this armed resistance and who are defending their country release me. I promise that I will never do anything that would harm their country. I know that these brave and honorable men can do this. Because I am a woman, and they respect women."

Kataib Hezbollah, which the U.S. has listed as a foreign terrorist organization since 2009, announced in a statement released today that Kittleson, who was kidnapped in Baghdad a week ago, had been released and that she had been instructed to leave Iraq immediately.

The kidnapping of Kittleson

Kittleson, who has been reporting on the Middle East for various organizations for over a decade, was kidnapped on Tuesday, March 31, on a busy street in the center of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. According to three senior Iraqi officials, Kittleson was forced into a vehicle and quickly taken away from the city. Iraqi officials were able to follow the vehicle to a highway outside the city, and the vehicle used by the kidnappers flipped over during the chase. However, the kidnappers quickly removed the American journalist from the wrecked vehicle, transferred her to another car, and managed to escape. Iraqi officials announced that one of the suspects had been captured and that the individual was a member of Kataib Hezbollah.