Beirut, February 26, 2020 -- Russian and Syrian military forces must ensure the safety of journalists and other civilians and hold those responsible for journalists’ deaths to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On February 20, a Russian airstrike on the northern Syrian city of Ma’arat al-Naasan killed Abdul Nasser Haj Hamdan, a photographer working for the Media Office in Binnish, a pro-civil rights opposition outlet, according to news reports and a Facebook post by his employer. Hamdan had worked as a journalist since 2015, and covered events around Idlib, including the recent bombing campaign and anti-government demonstrations, the coworker said. He also worked on a documentary film about the city of Binnish between 2017 and 2019, they said. According to CPJ research, 134 journalists have been killed in Syria since the uprisings began in 2011.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 26, 2020 18:00 UTC