American journalist Shelly Kittleson was released from her kidnapping in Iraq

American journalist Shelly Kittleson was freed Tuesday after being kidnapped last week in Iraq at a busy intersection in the capital, Baghdad. According to Al-Monitor, the media outlet where Kittleson works, the Kataib Hizballah militia announced that the journalist had been released following the efforts of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, adding that her release was on the condition that she leave the country immediately.

"This initiative will not be repeated in the future ... we are in a state of war waged by the Zionist-American enemy against Islam and in such situations many considerations are ignored," one of the top commanders of the militia, which reportedly initially kidnapped Kittleson, told the New York Times, according to several media reports after the State Department of the President's administration Donald Trump revealed that a person linked to Kataib Hizballah was involved in the incident.

Kittleson has spent the past several years reporting from conflict zones.

Despite the release, people close to Kittleson urged caution. Even former Pentagon official Alex Plitsas, who has been acting as a direct liaison in the journalist's case, said he will wait until she is in U.S. custody before celebrating. "We are still awaiting Shelley to be transferred to US officials. We welcome the news of her pending release but will save celebratory statements until she is transferred…. we will have more to say when she is in US hands," the former official wrote in a statement.

Kittleson, 49, who is originally from the state of Wisconsin and currently based in the Italian capital of Rome, has spent years reporting from conflict zones, including Syria and Afghanistan before working in Iraq. Her recent reporting has focused on political and social tensions in Iraq, including issues related to the influence the Iranian theocracy has exerted in that nation, women's rights and so-called "honor killings.

At the moment, the motivations of the kidnappers, who acted in broad daylight are unknown. Two sources who spoke to The Associated Press news agency noted that the kidnapping took place in downtown Baghdad, more precisely on Saadoun Street. "They added that an alert was issued to all checkpoints, which enabled the pursuit of the kidnappers as they headed southwest of Baghdad, towards the province of Babil," the cited media outlet explained.