Middle East & North Africa

  
Journalist Alnor Suleiman Alnor died from injuries sustained in an October 3 drone strike on his home in the besieged city of El-Fasher, the capital of the North Darfur State.

Sudanese journalist Alnor Suleiman Alnor killed in RSF drone strike in El-Fasher

New York, October 7, 2025— The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Sudanese authorities to investigate the killing of journalist Alnor Suleiman Alnor, who died on Saturday from injuries sustained in an October 3 drone strike on his home in the besieged city of El-Fasher, capital of the North Darfur State. The strike was reportedly…

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Boats with the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza are seen moored at the small island of Koufonisi, south of the island of Crete, on September 26, 2025.

CPJ calls on Israel to release journalists detained on the Global Sumud Flotilla

New York, October 2, 2025 – The Committee to Protect Journalists demands Israeli authorities immediately and unconditionally release the humanitarian crew of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, which includes at least 32 journalists, after the vessels were seized on October 1 and 2. “Detaining members of the press while reporting on a humanitarian mission is…

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Residents of El-Fasher gather at a communal kitchen to receive what little food is still available in the besieged city.

Hunted, raped, starved: Sudan’s journalists under siege in El-Fasher

In Sudan’s vast western region of Darfur, journalists in El-Fasher are trapped under siege, enduring violence, hunger, and relentless bombardment alongside the people whose lives they report on.  The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a group that evolved from the notorious Janjaweed militias accused of atrocities in earlier Darfur conflicts, have been fighting the Sudanese…

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At least 237 journalists have been killed in the Israel-Gaza war as of the end of September 2025.

CPJ and partners urge key EU member states to suspend EU-Israel Association Agreement

On September 30, 2025, CPJ and 16 partner organizations wrote to leaders in Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic to call for a full or partial suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. The agreement sets out the EU’s legal and institutional framework for political dialogue and economic cooperation with Israel. The European Commission recently proposed suspending “certain…

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Houthi authorities abducted Yemeni freelance journalist Majed Zayed in Sanaa on September 23, 2025.

Yemeni journalist Majed Zayed disappears amid Houthi arrest campaign

Washington, D.C., September 29, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the immediate release of Yemeni freelance journalist Majed Zayed, who press freedom and human rights groups say was abducted by Houthi authorities on September 23 amid a wave of detentions. Zayed, a contributor to independent Yemen-based media outlets Nafzet Al-Yemen, Almawqea Post, and Mda…

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Ramla Dahmani speaks on behalf of her sister, imprisoned Tunisian commentator Sonia Dahmani, who was named an honorary member of the Rouen Bar Association during a conference in Rouen, France.

‘They want to break her’: A Q&A with jailed Tunisian commentator Sonia Dahmani’s sister

Tunisian lawyer and commentator Sonia Dahmani, known for her bold defense of human rights and civil liberties, has become a symbol of the country’s escalating crackdown on dissent. Arrested in May 2024, she has been subjected to five separate legal proceedings that could put her behind bars for decades under Decree 54 — a law…

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Hatem Khaled, a photographer who contributes to Reuters, is assisted after being wounded in Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital that killed five journalists on August 25, 2025. (Photo: Reuters/Ramadan Abed)

Journalists injured and missing in the Israel-Gaza war

Since the Israel-Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented at least 166 cases of journalists injured and two cases of journalists missing. CPJ believes the true number of injured Palestinian journalists is likely higher and continues to investigate additional cases. CPJ counts the journalists’ cases it has been…

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Ismail Alexandrani, a well-known Egyptian journalist and former prisoner, was arrested on September 24 and accused of spreading false news.

Egypt re-arrests journalist Ismail Alexandrani over social media posts

Washington, D.C., September 26, 2025 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling on Egyptian authorities to immediately release journalist Ismail Alexandrani, who has already spent years imprisoned for his reporting. Alexandrani was arrested on September 24 at a checkpoint in Matrouh Governorate, northwestern Egypt, and later charged with joining a terrorist group, spreading false…

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Journalist Sherwan Sherwani at a correctional facility in Erbil.

CPJ, partners urge Iraqi Kurdistan to free journalist Sherwan Sherwani

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), along with 17 press freedom, human rights organizations and media outlets, is urging the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq to immediately and unconditionally release journalist Sherwan Sherwani, who remains unjustly imprisoned for his independent reporting and has been subjected to systematic judicial harassment. On August 20, 2025, the Erbil…

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Smoke billows after Israeli strikes on Yemen's capital Sanaa on September 10, 2025. Israel’s attack on Yemen echoes previous strikes on Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, where it has repeatedly failed to distinguish between military targets and journalists.

Israel’s killing of 31 Yemeni journalists marks deadliest global attack in 16 years

Israel’s targeted strikes on two newspaper offices in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, which killed 31 journalists and media support workers on September 10, signal that its deadly pattern of attacking reporters and newsrooms on the grounds that they publish “terrorist” propaganda has spread firmly across the Middle East.  Yemen’s 26 September newspaper was the first to…

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