Three Al-Manar journalists allegedly killed near Damascus

Al-Manar, a Lebanese TV station owned by Hezbollah, has reported that three of its Lebanese employees were fatally shot and two were wounded yesterday in Maaloula, a Christian town 60 km northeast of Damascus. The TV station’s vehicles reportedly came under fire shortly after government forces recovered control of the town from rebels who had controlled it for several months. Al-Manar named those killed as reporter Hamza Al-Hajj Hassan, cameraman Mohamed Mantach and technician Halim Aloua. The TV station said press signs were “very visible” on its vehicles. Reporters Without Borders was not able to confirm this. Reporters Without Borders presents its condolences to the families of the victims. A total of 31 professional journalists, including nine foreigners, and more than 100 Syrian professional and citizen-journalists have been killed in connection with their work in the past three years in Syria, which is ranked 177th out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.