New York, April 7, 2003—Two journalists embedded with U.S. forces in Iraq were killed this afternoon, bringing to six the total number of journalists killed in action during the current war in Iraq.
The Spanish daily El Mundo reported that its correspondent Julio Anguita Parrado died in an Iraqi missile attack while he accompanied the U.S. Army’s Third infantry south of Baghdad. The paper said Parrado died in the attack along with German reporter Christian Liebig of the weekly Focus magazine and two U.S. soldiers.
“We are shocked and saddened by the loss of our two colleagues,” said Joel Simon, acting director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. “Our condolences go out to their family and friends.”
Two journalists missing
In a separate development, two Polish journalists have gone missing in central Iraq after they were stopped by five armed Iraqis—some dressed in military uniforms—at a checkpoint near the town of Al-Hilla.
Marcin Firlej, a reporter for the private TVN24 news channel, and Jacek Kaczmarek, with Polish public radio, were traveling with two other cars carrying Polish journalists when they were stopped at a checkpoint about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Baghdad, said TVN24 news producer Aleksandra Karasimsak. Two of the cars managed to escape despite coming under fire from the armed Iraqis, she said. No one was injured.
Firlej, who had previously been embedded with U.S. troops, and Kaczmarek were operating independently at the time.
