Al-Zabi was shot in the chest by a sniper while covering clashes between
the Syrian army and rebel forces in the neighborhood of Tafas in the southern
city of Daraa, according to regional and local news
outlets.
It was not immediately clear if al-Zabi was targeted by a sniper affiliated
with the Syrian regime, or was shot by a gunman on the side of the rebel
forces.
Al-Zabi was a third-year dental student at Damascus University,
but left his studies to become a journalist and expose abuses committed by the
government, according to his mother who spoke to the pro-opposition TV outlet
Tafas News. He regularly filmed clashes between the army and rebel forces in
the neighborhood of Tafas and contributed to several local news outlets including
Tafas News, according to
news reports.
With an effective ban on foreign journalists and with local
media neutralized, international media relied heavily on reporting and footage
shot by al-Zabi and other citizen journalists.