The United Nations cultural organisation Unesco on Thursday deplored the killing of photographer Bashar Al-Attar who died of injuries he sustained in an airstrike in Syria's besieged rebel enclave of eastern Ghouta last week.
“I condemn the killing of Bashar Al-Attar,” said the Unesco director-general Audrey Azoulay.
"It is my sad duty yet again to remind all parties of their legal obligation to protect journalists in times of war. In keeping with the Geneva Conventions, belligerents must recognise the civilian status of journalists."
Al-Attar, a photographer for the pro-opposition Arbin Media Office, was hit by shrapnel while he was covering air raids on the eastern Ghouta town of Arbin on 12 March and died from his injuries two days later.
At least 75 journalists and media professionals are under threat in eastern Ghouta due to the escalating military campaign, the Syrian Journalists' Association said in a statement on 22 February, four days after pro-government forces stepped up an assault on the enclave.
Air and artillery strikes have killed 1,500 civilians in eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, while at least 50,000 others have fled the siege on foot in recent days, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.
Syria is one of the deadliest countries in the world for journalists. At least 115 journalists have been killed there in relation to their work since the conflict began in 2011, according to the Committee to Protect Journalist watchdog.
