Award-winning Syrian journalist killed in airstrike in Syria

London – Award-winning Syrian journalist Anas Alkharboutli died in a conflict zone in western Syria, a country that has experienced an escalation of violence between the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and government forces since the end of November.

Alkharboutli, 32, who worked as a photojournalist for the German news agency DPA, was killed in an airstrike by Syrian military forces in the city of Morek, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) last week of November and was buried on December 4th.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reported that he was the second journalist killed in Syria recently. In October, TV anchor Safaa Ahmad died as a result of Israeli bombing in Damascus.

Syrian journalist awarded as war correspondent

Anas Alkharboutli left engineering faculty at Damascus University and began working as a photojournalist in 2014 to document the siege and attacks in Eastern Ghouta by Syrian regime forces and their allies.

He has received several awards for his work, including Young Reporter of the Year at the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy award for war correspondents, awarded in 2020.

Syrian journalist died photographing warplane

The rebel offensive in northern Syria has already taken the country’s second largest city, Aleppo, and advanced on the central city of Hama.

The attack that took the photojournalist’s life happened when he and other press professionals stopped their cars to photograph a warplane in the Morek area.

Ghaith Al-Sayed, a Syrian freelance camera operator who works for the Associated Press, told CPJ that he was with two other colleagues in a car parked near a bridge, while Anas Alkharboutli and two others were in a separate car.

“When a jet passed overhead, we went out to film. Shortly after, the (Syrian army jet) circled back, spotted us and fired two missiles directly at our position,” he reported.

Although their cars were unmarked, there were other vehicles in the area and the journalists wore protective vests marked with the word “press,” according to the Washington Post.

“(We are) in shock and deeply saddened by the death of Anas Alkharboutli,” said DPA agency editor-in-chief Sven Gösmann.

“We will honor his journalistic legacy. With his photos, he not only documented the horrors of war, but always worked for the truth (…)”.

Press freedom NGOs demand protection

The International Federation of Journalists mourned the loss of Alkharboutli and reiterated the need for greater international protection to ensure that journalists and media professionals are not targets in areas of armed conflict.

“Journalists are civilians and must always be protected,” said CPJ program director Carlos Martinez de la Serna.

“The murder of Syrian journalist Anas Alkharboutli marks the return of deadly attacks on journalists in Syria, which for years were the norm without perpetrators being held accountable.”

Syria ranked second to last in the World Press Freedom Index 2024, a ranking produced annually by the organization Reporters Without Borders that lists 180 countries.