American journalist Shelly Kittleson was released Tuesday after being held for approximately one week by the Iranian-backed Iraqi militia group Kataib Hezbollah, according to Iraqi officials and the militia group itself.

Kittleson, a 49-year-old freelance journalist, was abducted from a Baghdad street corner in late March. The militia group said in a statement Tuesday that it would release her "in appreciation of the patriotic stances of the outgoing prime minister," Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, though it provided no additional details about this reasoning.

Kataib Hezbollah imposed the condition that Kittleson "leave Iraq immediately" upon her release. The group also stated that "this initiative will not be repeated in the future," suggesting this was a one-time gesture rather than a change in policy toward foreign journalists.

According to Iraqi officials, the kidnapping involved two vehicles, one of which crashed during a pursuit near the town of al-Haswa in Babil province, southwest of Baghdad. Kittleson was then transferred to a second vehicle that escaped. Iraqi authorities said negotiations for her release had proven difficult because militia commanders had "gone underground" and were maintaining no active communication lines.

Kittleson had been working as a freelance journalist across the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Syria, using Rome as her base. U.S. officials reportedly warned her multiple times about threats against her but said she did not want to leave Iraq. The State Department had been working with the FBI to secure her release, and journalist advocacy groups had urged the U.S. government to formally designate her a hostage.