American journalist Shelly Kittleson kidnapped in Baghdad, US says

An American freelance journalist, Shelly Kittleson, was kidnapped Tuesday in Baghdad by a suspected Iraqi armed group, the United States said, as regional security deteriorates following the US-Israeli attack on Iran.

The State Department said it had warned the journalist of security risks and was working to ensure the American's release "as soon as possible".

"An individual with ties to the Iranian-aligned group Kataib Hezbollah believed to be involved in the kidnapping has been taken into custody by Iraqi authorities," Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, wrote on X.

Iraq said that authorities intercepted a vehicle that overturned as they tried to flee.

Kittleson is a former contributor to Middle East Eye.