Suhaib al-Heeti, a freelance reporter for the TV network Asiasat, was killed on May 30, 2017, in a suicide attack in Iraq’s western Anbar province while covering a candlelight vigil for the victims of a truck bomb that had killed dozens of people the day prior, according to news reports, his employer, and the Iraq Observatory for Press Freedoms.
Ruba Gamiyya, senior news producer at Asiasat TV’s Beirut office, said Al-Heeti was killed covering a candlelight vigil in central Heet for the victims of a truck bomb that exploded near a popular ice cream shop in Baghdad’s Karrada district the night before. The journalist was killed when a man detonated explosives strapped to his body at a checkpoint near a school, killing himself, Al-Heeti, and at least 16 other people, according to news reports. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, media reports said.
Al-Heeti covered general news in Anbar province, reporting on teachers’ protests, snow storms, and the plight of street children, for example. He also worked as a freelancer for the private satellite channel Al-Fallujah TV, according to the manager of the broadcaster’s Facebook account.