Sumeria cameraman martyred

Ali Reisan, Sumeria cameraman suffered martyrdom on Saturday, during covering Alshouwra battles in Qayara area at the southern part of Mosul.

Sumeria channel said that Reisan’s life was ended by a bullet tri9ggered by a sniper directly through his chest when he was in Alkhuwein village that lies in Alshouwra.

At the time that Press Freedom Association in Iraq expresses its deep solace towards the incident that indicates the first cameraman case of martyrdom during battles coverage, it calls upon all media cadres to adhere to high alert and to refrain from covering the front lines’ battles or escorting advancing military forces.

The association holds all media bodies responsible for the loss and martyrdom of their members of media staff during military operations since they lack logistic support that would provide protection and a reasonable level of safety, especially that the ongoing war since 2014 never included any training for military media coverage. The association states that 2015 witnessed the martyrdom of 13 correspondents and war cameramen whom all were free of any kind of physical protection like war vests and helmets and have never received any military maneuver training.