Kurdish reporters killed in eastern Syria

Two Kurdish reporters killed on duty by car bombings in eastern Syria

Beirut, October 16, 2017–Kurdish journalists Dilshan Ibash and Hawker Faisal Mohammed died from injuries sustained during October 12 suicide car bomb attacks that occurred in the eastern Syrian village of Abu Fas, where the two reporters were covering civilian displacement, according to their employer, Hawar News Agency, and the Syrian Journalists Association.Ibash died at the scene of the attack on the Al-Kharafi road that links the Syrian cities of Al-Hasaka and Deir Ezzor. Mohammed died the next day at a hospital in the city of Qamishli of severe head injuries sustained during the blast, Hassan Ramo, editor-in-chief of the Hawar News Agency, told CPJ.

Old Bridge above the Euphrates in Deir ez-Zor, Syria (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rizgar Deniz, a third journalist from Hawar News Agency, which is affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces, was injured in the blast, according to Ramo.

Two people affiliated with the militant group Islamic State carried out the attacks, which left at least 15 civilians dead, not including the two journalists, and at least 100 injured, the Harwa News Agency reported.

Ramo told CPJ that the suicide bombers targeted a gathering of civilians.

“The deaths of Dilshan Ibash and Hawker Faisal Mohammed are a tragic reminder of the risks journalists continue to face when reporting on the Syrian conflict,” CPJ Middle East and North Africa Coordinator Sherif Mansour said from Washington D.C. “We urge all sides to guarantee the safety of all civilians, including journalists.”

Ibash joined the Rojava-based Hawar News Agency around the end of 2015 after working for several years as a war correspondent for the radio station the Voice of Kobane.

Mohammed had been working for the agency for two months at the time of his death.

At least 111 journalists have been killed in Syria since fighting began there in 2011, according CPJ research.

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rayhanania

Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News

RAY HANANIA — Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster

Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.

Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).

Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.

Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.

His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.

Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.

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