The global media community has roundly condemned the targeting of Sky News journalists operating in Syria by forces loyal to Bashar Al-Assad.
The crew, which included Sky News’ Alex Crawford, a veteran reporter in some of the worlds most dangerous places, reported that she and her crew were attacked at a twon called Al Habit, near to Idlib, by what she described as tank shells.
The UK’s National Union of Journalists have condemned the attack and called on the United Nations to investigate the matter and urgently condemn the actions of the Syrian authorities.
Alex Crawford, Sky News’ special correspondent said; “The Sky News crew – clearly identified as journalists – was deliberately targeted and attacked by Syrian regime forces using military drones to pinpoint our location, before launching a series of strikes.
“We were spotted by a military drone and then repeatedly shot at with what we believe were 125mm shells probably fired from a T-72 Russian battle tank.”
The National Union of Journalists’ general secretary, Michelle Stainstreet added; “This is an outrageous act and the international community must strongly condemn Bashar al Assad’s intentional targeting of journalists in Syria. Media workers should be allowed to work without such threats to their lives which are clear breaches of international law. The attack on the Sky news team is also clearly intended to send a stark message to other journalists, and we must be united in our condemnation of such actions.”
Sky News has said that the crew was deliberately targeted by the Syrian regime forces, who overflew them using military drones and pinpointed their location.
- This article was written for, and first appeared on News on News.
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