Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton grad student who was kidnapped by an Iraqi militant group in 2023, has finally been freed after more than 900 days in captivity.
President Trump on Tuesday announced the academic was safe at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad after being “tortured for many months.”
He identified her captors as members of the Iran-backed, U.S.-designated terrorist group Kata’ib Hezbollah, though they have not taken responsibility for the kidnapping. The group is officially part of Iraq’s armed forces, but often act on their own.
“My entire family is incredibly happy. We cannot wait to see Elizabeth and give her all the love we have been waiting to share for 903 days,” Tsurkov’s sister, Emma, said in a statement .
She said they had spoken on the phone and expected to be reuni