Shelly Kittleson, a 49-year-old American freelance journalist, has been kidnapped in Baghdad. She is known for her gutsy and low-budget reporting style, often working without formal assignments and on a shoestring budget.
Kittleson has lived abroad for years, using Rome as her base and building a respected journalism career across the Middle East. She has spent over a decade reporting from Iraq, Syria, and the wider Middle East for various news outlets.
Friends and fellow journalists describe Kittleson as a determined and curious reporter who often embeds herself in local communities, sometimes staying with families rather than in hotels.
She has been stopped by security forces and militias at checkpoints before, but has always managed to secure her release. However, hours before her abduction, she met a friend in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood and said she had received a warning from US officials that a militia group intended to target her.
Kittleson had been struggling financially, living a frugal existence as a freelancer. She often relied on the support of Iraqi journalists and had long complained about the treatment of freelance journalists, saying they are not paid enough.
