Mona al-Bakkour, a reporter for the state-owned daily Al-Thawra
and editor-in-chief of the pro-government news website Syria al-Qalaa,
was killed by an explosion in Saadallah al-Jabri Square in the besieged
northern city of Aleppo, close to where she was reporting, according to local news reports.
Al-Bakkour was reporting for Al-Thawra on the
conflict in Aleppo, and was staying in a hotel overlooking the square at the
time of the explosion, news reports
said. Over the past several months, Aleppo has experienced heavy fighting
between government forces and the rebel Free Syrian Army, according to news
reports.
The official Syrian State TV reported in a news
bulletin that al-Bakkour was killed by “terrorist explosions.” Since the start
of the uprising in March 2011, the regime has used “terrorists” as a
catch-all phrase for all opposition fighters, according to news reports.