Batoul Mokhles al-Warrar

Job:
Medium:
Beats Covered:
Gender:
Local or Foreign:
Freelance:

Syrian journalist al-Warrar was killed by a mortar shell shortly after leaving her home in the north-eastern Damascus suburb of Dahiyat al-Assad, a colleague at Noor al-Sham, who asked to be identified only as Hassan because he is not authorized to speak on behalf of the channel, told CPJ. His account confirms local media reports about her death.

Dahiyat al-Assad is a government-controlled suburb that borders several rebel areas and has been targeted regularly by mortar fire, the monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said. The state news agency SANA reported that the shell that killed al-Warrar had been fired by rebels. One other person was injured in the mortar fire, SANA reported.

Al-Warrar was a news presenter for the Noor al-Sham TV channel, which confirmed her death on its Facebook page and in a YouTube video commemorating her life and work. The channel is a pro-government Islamic channel established under the patronage of President Bashar al-Assad in 2011.

Hassan told CPJ al-Warrar was on her way to the the office when she was killed. “I am devastated by her death… She was friend and a great interviewer,” he said.

As of December 9, 2015 the channel had not responded to CPJ’s requests for comment.

Al-Warrar also reported for the state-run station Radio Damascus, which issued a statement on November 4 saying she was killed by a mortar shell.