Unknown gunmen assassinated media activist, Hussein Khattab, nicknamed Kara al-Safrani, in the city of al-Bab in the eastern countryside of Aleppo.
A media source from the countryside of Aleppo told Alsouria Net on Saturday that, “masked gunmen on a motorcycle shot Khattab while he was working on a video report in the city of al-Bab in the countryside of Aleppo.”
The source added, “Khattab died immediately after being shot, while the perpetrators, whose identity is still unknown, fled.”
Khattab is considered the most prominent media activist in the countryside of Aleppo. He hails from the city of al-Safirah and was a key member of the opposition media office for years. He recently started contributing to Turkish TRT.
His assassination comes within a state of security chaos in the northern countryside of Aleppo, which is under the control of the National Army factions. At the time of writing, the National Army had made no comment on the assassination.
Activists from the Aleppo countryside mourned their friend, saying that he was killed by unknown persons in broad daylight, in an incident that has happened several times as of late.
Khattab was subjected to an assassination attempt a few months ago. At the time, he used his Facebook account to accuse people and said that he had submitted a report to the National Police in the city of Qabasin near al-Bab in the Aleppo countryside.
Syrian journalists and activists have faced numerous violations since the start of the peaceful movement in Syria in 2011.
Citizen journalists have played an important part, especially in northern Syria, in transmitting and spreading news during the years of military operations by Assad’s forces and Russia.
However, crimes against media professionals are escalating continuously amid impunity for the perpetrators, according to periodic reports by the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
