Sudad Faris, a cameraman for Salaheddin TV, was shot dead by a sniper from the Islamic State group, as he covered a July 7 Iraqi military operation to retake the village of Imam Gharbi from the militants, according to the pro-government channel.
Faris was trapped in a building alongside Iraqi security forces and several other reporters when fighters from the Islamic State group launched a counteroffensive to retake the village of Imam Gharbi, south of Mosul, a spokesman for Salaheddin TV told CPJ. Faris was hit immediately, he said. Harb Hazza al-Duleimi, a reporter for the broadcaster Hona Salaheddin, was killed in the same attack.
On July 17, Salaheddin TV published a special report on its YouTube channel that said the bodies of al-Duleimi and Faris had not been recovered because of Islamic State attacks in the village. For several days, the channel posted videos of the journalists’ colleagues and family members calling on military and government officials for help in recovering the bodies.
On July 20, military officials said that they had found the bodies of the journalists, according to news reports. On the same day, Salaheddin TV posted a video to its Facebook page showing the journalists’ remains arriving in Tikrit, wrapped in the Iraqi flag in preparation for their burial.
Faris worked for Salaheddin TV for more than a year, the spokesman said. The journalist covered a range of news and features, from literary events at universities to interviews with survivors of militant attacks in Tikrit.