Orhan Hijarn, an Iraqi cameraman working for privately-owned satellite TV station Al-Rashid, was killed by a roadside bomb Wednesday in Kirkuk, 240 km north of Baghdad, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. Abdallah Zadeh, an Al-Baghdadiya TV reporter, suffered minor injuries.
The two journalists had been out reporting and were caught in the explosion as they were returning to their homes in Kirkuk’s southwestern neighbourhood of Al Khadra. The road they took is often the site of bombings as US military convoys use it to return to a nearby base. Zadeh has been released from hospital, but is said to be still traumatised by the experience.
“Our thoughts go out to the victim’s family,” Paris-based RSF said. “This fatality is reminder that Iraq continues to be a dangerous country for the media. Hijarn is the third Iraqi journalist to be killed in a bombing since the start of the year.”
Iraq was ranked 145th out of 175 countries in the 2009 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.
