Tamer al-Awam

Freelance

September 9, 2012, in Aleppo, Syria

Al-Awam, a documentary filmmaker and freelance journalist, died from shrapnel wounds he sustained from shelling as he covered clashes between Syrian government forces and the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo a day earlier, according to news reports based on opposition activist accounts. He died in a nearby field hospital, the reports said.

The 35-year-old was from the governorate of Soueida, east of Damascus, and had studied film and cinema in Germany, news reports said. He returned to Syria in July 2012 to cover the uprising, reports said. His latest documentary, "Memories at the Checkpoint," which aired in August on the pro-opposition television channel Orient News, documented the lives of residents in Idlib under government checkpoints and after heavy shelling. 

While in Germany, he worked closely with media activists in Syria to report on events there, according to news reports. He was interviewed by German and international news outlets including Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera, news reports said. 

Job: Camera Operator

Beats Covered: Human Rights, Politics, War

Gender: Male

Local or Foreign: Local

Freelance: Yes

Type of Death: Crossfire/Combat-Related

Suspected Source of Fire: Unknown Fire