Kareem, director of Kurdistan TV’s Mosul bureau, was shot and killed by U.S. forces outside the bureau’s office along the Tigris River. Kurdistan TV staff and an official from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which runs Kurdistan TV, told CPJ that Kareem was sitting outside with a colleague writing a news report when a U.S. river patrol exchanged fire with an armed group situated on the same river bank as Kurdistan TV. Kareem and his colleague were shot as they sought refuge in the bureau. The colleague, a cameraman, survived.
Kareem and his colleague had decided to work outside because there was no electricity in the building and the office was excessively hot.
Bakhtiar Talabani, media director in Kirkuk for the Kurdistan Democratic Party, said U.S. military officials visited the family’s home days later to express their condolences and provide his children with a sum of money. The U.S. military has not investigated the incident nor has it issued an official apology.