Jaafar, 24, a well-known sports correspondent and anchor at Iraq’s state television channel Al-Iraqiya, was shot by unidentified gunmen as he opened up his recently deceased brother’s auto shop near his home in Al-Shorta al-Rabaa in southwest Baghdad, according to CPJ sources and international news reports. His colleagues believe he was killed because he worked for Al-Iraqiya.
Insurgents frequently targeted Al-Iraqiya and its staff because of the station’s ties to the U.S.-supported Iraqi government. About two dozen employees of the state-run Iraq Media Network, which includes Al-Iraqiya, had been killed in the war, most by insurgents. Al-Iraqiya offices had repeatedly come under mortar attack.