An American journalist was kidnapped on Tuesday in Baghdad and Iraqi security forces are pursuing her captors, Iraqi officials said, according to The Associated Press.
The journalist is a freelancer who works for Al-Monitor, among other publications.
The Iraqi interior ministry said in a statement that a foreign journalist had been kidnapped, without giving more details about the person’s identity.
Two Iraqi security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the kidnapped journalist was a woman with US citizenship.
They said that two cars were involved in the kidnapping. One of the vehicles crashed and was apprehended while being pursued by authorities near the town of Al-Haswa in Babil province southwest of Baghdad. The journalist was transferred to a second car that fled the scene.
The interior ministry said that security forces had launched an operation to track down the kidnappers, “acting on precise intelligence and through intensive field operations" after intercepting a vehicle belonging to the kidnappers that overturned as they tried to flee.
One suspect was arrested and one of the vehicles used in the kidnapping was seized, but others remain on the loose, the statement said.
The US State Department said in a statement, “The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans" and that it is “tracking these reports."
“Due to privacy and other considerations, we have nothing further to share at this time," the statement said.