At least 86 journalist and media activists were killed and 123 others injured in Syria in 2016, a rights group has said. The group added that regime forces were responsible for the overwhelming majority of the deaths.
In its yearly report about violations against journalists and media activists in Syria, the Syrian Network for Human Rights said that 41 journalists and media activists were killed at the hands of the Assad regime in 2016. They included a female media activists and four activists who died under torture in Assad’s prisons.
Eleven journalists were killed in Russian attacks across Syria in 2016, while 20 more, including a female media activist, were killed at the hands of the ISIS extremist group. The PYD militias killed two journalists, while 4 more were killed at the hands of gunmen whom the SNHR could not identify.
According to the report, 123 journalists and media activists were injured in 2016, including 33 who were injured in attacks by the Assad regime, 31 at the hands of Russian forces, 8 in attacks by ISIS, 2 in attacks by the PYD militia, and 6 in attacks that the rights groups said were untraceable. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Office)
