Youssef, a reporter for Syrian State TV, was shot and killed outside his home in the Tadamoun neighborhood of Damascus, according to a report by the broadcaster. Youssef, 42, had been working for Syrian State TV for eight years, the broadcaster said. He had been kidnapped and threatened in the past three months, the report said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Youssef was killed by rebel forces, according to Agence France-Presse. The report issued by Youssef's employer said the journalist was killed by terrorists who were linked to Al-Qaeda. Since the start of the uprising, the regime has used "terrorists" as a catch-all phrase for all opposition fighters, according to news reports.
While CPJ research indicates that many of the fatalities in Syria have been at the hands of government forces, an increasing number of attacks against journalists and news outlets seen as pro-government have been attributed to rebel forces.