US Journalist Kidnapped in Baghdad, Iraqi Officials Say

American freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson has been kidnapped in Baghdad, Iraqi authorities said, in a case that has raised fresh concerns over journalist safety and militia-linked abductions in Iraq.

International media reported that Kittleson was abducted Tuesday outside a hotel in central Baghdad. Iraqi police and Interior Ministry officials said security forces launched an immediate search operation, while checkpoints across the capital and nearby areas were alerted in an effort to track the kidnappers.