Unidentified masked gunmen opened fire against Bahaa al Halabi, a Syria TV reporter, in an attempt to kill him as he was leaving his home in al Shamali neighborhood in al Bab city in the eastern suburbs of Aleppo governorate on January 6. The gunmen shot several bullets at Bahaa, targeting him inside his car, resulting in injuries to his hand, shoulder and stomach. As a result, he was taken to al Bab al Kabir Hospital in the city where he underwent surgery.
Friends of the reporter Bahaa al Halabi, who comes from al Bab city, informed SNHR that he had received several assassination threats in recent days.
SNHR condemns the targeting of Bahaa al Halabi and all violations against media workers which aim to suppress and end the documentation and coverage of events on the ground. We stress the need to strengthen protection for media workers; given their vital role in disseminating information, they must be helped to work freely, and the policy of threatening and prosecuting them must be ended.
SNHR calls on the controlling force in al Bab area which is affiliated with the Syrian opposition (the Syrian National Army/ Police) to bear responsibility for providing security and ensuring safety for the residents of the area and for immediately prosecuting those involved in such violations and holding them accountable. These controlling forces must conduct investigations into all such incidents and reveal their findings to the public, particularly since this dreadful incident comes only a few weeks after the killing of media activist Hussein Khattab, who was killed on December 12, with the controlling force failing to arrest the perpetrators of the crime and hold them accountable.