Two Iraqi television journalists were shot dead on Tuesday while on a reporting trip to Baquba, capital of the Diyala province, with a senior security officer.
Reporter Saif Tallal and cameraman Hassan al-Anbaki were killed by armed militias, said their employer, the independent Al-Sharqiya TV station.
Their car was some way behind the rest of the convoy led by Lieutenant General Mizher al-Azzawi, the head of security for the province, when it was stopped by masked men as it passed through a village.
The Sunni-owned TV channel believes a Shiite militia group was responsible.
The killings were the first in 2016 to be documented by the New York-based press freedom watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Its Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator, Sherif Mansour, said the murders were “a strong reminder of the need for the Iraqi government to step up measures to protect journalists, who take great risks every day.”
Sources: AFP via Nigeria Guardian/CPJ
