A female journalist holding a US passport was kidnapped in Baghdad on Tuesday by unknown parties, two police sources said.
The Iraqi interior ministry did not disclose her nationality, but said one suspect had been arrested and that efforts were ongoing to free the journalist.
The journalist's identity was later confirmed to Reuters by Iraqi police sources as Shelly Kittleson.
Middle East news site AL-Monitor said Kittleson is a US freelance journalist based in Rome who has covered several wars in the region and contributed articles to the outlet.
A US State Department official said the U.S. is tracking reports of the kidnapping but declined to provide further details, citing privacy and other considerations.
Police chasing vehicle which kidnapped journalist
Police sources said they were still chasing a vehicle in which she was taken by force by four men in civilian clothes.
The search is focused in the eastern part of the capital where the kidnappers' vehicle was headed, police sources added.
An Israeli-Russian graduate student from Princeton University was kidnapped by an Iran-aligned Shi'ite militia group during a research trip to Iraq in March 2023 and was released in 2025.