Sulaymaniyah, December 4, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is saddened and alarmed by the killing of award-winning 1 Syrian journalist Anas Alkharboutli in a western Syria conflict zone and calls for an investigation into whether he was targeted for his work.
Alkharboutli 2 , 32, who worked as a photographer for the German agency dpa, was killed in an airstrike by the Syrian military forces in the town of Morek, near the western city of Hama, while covering the recent battles 3 between government and rebel forces, according to multiple 4 news 5 reports 6 , his outlet 7 , and his colleague Ghiath Al-Sayed, who spoke to CPJ.
“Journalists are civilians and should always be protected,” said CPJ Programs Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna in New York. “The killing of Syrian journalist Anas Alkharboutli marks the return of the deadly attacks on journalists in Syria, which for years were the norm without holding the perpetrators to account.”
CPJ is investigating at least one other report of a journalist killed in Syria since the recent escalation 8 between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Syrian government forces and their allies, which started on November 27, 2024.
Ghaith Al-Sayed, a Syrian freelance camera operator working with the Associated Press, told CPJ via messaging app that he and other journalists “had agreed to regroup with other colleagues to head to Morek for coverage. I was with two other colleagues in a car parked near a bridge close to the city, while Anas Alkharboutli and two others were in a separate car. When a jet passed overhead, we got out to film it. Shortly after, the [Syrian army jet] circled back, spotted us, and fired two missiles directly at our position.”
The journalists’ cars did not have press signage, but Al-Sayed said all of the journalists wore vests and helmets marked with “Press” insignia.
CPJ emailed the Syrian ministries of information and defense for comment but didn’t immediately receive any response.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists 9 and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.