Over 100 journalists killed, injured while covering Mosul battles: Statement

(IraqiNews.com) Forty-seven Iraqi journalists were killed, while fifty-five others were wounded while covering and accompanying security troops during battles in Mosul, the Federation of Arab Journalists said.

In a statement on Thursday, the federation offered felicitations to Iraqi journalists who covered the details of the battles in Mosul, praising the victory achieved by security troops

On Friday, two Iraqi journalists were killed as Islamic State militants attacked Imam Gharbi village in Qayyarah, south of Mosul.

An Iraqi and French journalists were killed in June in an IED blast in Mosul’s Old City.

The first Iraqi slain journalist in 2017 was Abdul Qader al-Qaisi, who was kidnapped and then found by security forces in January. His body was dumped on the road between Kirkuk and Baghdad. Another journalist Afrah Shawqi was abducted for nine days and then released.

A report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in December seven reporters were killed in Iraq in 2016, out of a total of 57 who were killed in conflict areas across the world. Syria came on top of the death tally with 19 victims. The total for 2016 was, however, a drop from the 101 death count of 2015.

In October, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Iraq was the world’s top country in terms of impunity regarding journalists’ killing, attributing the fact to the involvement of extremist militias in the murders.