On May 12, 2019, Hani Amara, a photographer and videographer for Reuters, was shot in the leg while covering clashes in the Libyan capital Tripoli, according to news reports, social media posts and the Libyan Center for Freedom of the Press, a local press freedom group.
Amara was shot in his right thigh as he started to cover clashes for Reuters between militias and the Libyan National Army, in the Tripoli suburb of Ain Zara, according to reports and a person familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak. It was not immediately clear what the source of fire was, according to the person familiar with the situation.
The self-styled Libyan National Army, led by the military leader Khalifa Hifter, is based in the east of the country. It is fighting militias loosely allied with the U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord to take control of Tripoli, according to reports.
A Reuters security adviser took Amara to a field hospital, and the photojournalist was later transferred to a hospital in Tunis, Tunisia, to have a bullet removed from his leg, according to the person familiar with the situation.
In an email to CPJ on May 17, 2019, a spokesperson for Reuters confirmed that Amara was wounded while working in Tripoli, and said that he was receiving treatment at a hospital.