Committee to Protect Journalists: 48 journalists killed in 2016

The number of journalists killed in the line of duty is on track to decline in 2016 from recent record levels as fewer journalists were targeted for murder, the Committee to Protect Journalists found in its annual analysis. Deaths in combat or crossfire ticked to their highest number since 2013 as conflicts in the Middle East dragged on.

At least 48 journalists were killed in relation to their work between January 1 and December 15, 2016. CPJ is investigating the deaths of at least 27 more journalists during the year to determine whether they were work-related.

Overall, Syria was the most deadly country for journalists for the fifth year in a row. At least 14 journalists were killed in Syria in 2016, the same number as in 2015, bringing the total number killed there in the line of duty since conflict broke out to at least 107. Those killed by the fighting this year included 20-year-old Osama Jumaa, a photographer and video journalist reporting on the aftermath of a bombardment in Aleppo for the international photo agency Images Live. 

Journalists who brave conflict are at risk not only of dying in combat but of being kidnapped or murdered by Islamic State and other militant groups. 

Photo - Images Live