Syrian freelance journalist Anas al-Dyab was killed in an airstrike in the northwestern Syrian city of Khan Shaykhun, in Idlib province, on July 21, 2019, according to news reports and the Syrian Journalists’ Association, a France-based press freedom group.
Bombs from a Russian warplane killed al-Dyab and injured some of his colleagues shortly after he arrived in Khan Shaykhoun to cover the aftermath of other airstrikes there and to help rescue civilians, according to local reporter Ayham Mohammad al-Bayoush, who spoke to the Syrian Journalists’ Association. Al-Dyab worked as a photographer and cameraman for the volunteer search and rescue group Syrian Civil Defense (also known as the White Helmets),
Al-Dyab was seeking safety in the basement of a three-story building along with members of a local rebel group when he was killed, according to a report by Agence France-Presse. Ten other civilians were killed in Idlib province that day, according to that report.
Al-Dyab also contributed photos and video to AFP, according to the agency. He garnered international attention for a photo of a wounded six-year-old, Hasna’a Qatran, that was published by AFP in February 2019.
He was 23 at the time he was killed, according to CNN.
The Syrian Defense Ministry did not reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.