The Damascus headquarters of pro-government Syrian station Al-Ikhbariya were attacked yesterday. Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi told state television that the station’s offices were bombed, killing four security guards and three journalists. He also said that equipment was stolen from the station.
Two independent radio stations were attacked by Islamist militia in Mogadishu on 19 September. Radio Horn Afrik was vandalised and looted by Al-Shabaab, while Global Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) was taken over by Hizbul Islam, who are now using the station to broadcast their own propaganda. Journalists at Horn Afrik were driven from the building by armed men. Cassettes and CDs were then destroyed. According to the transitional government in Mogadishu, five radio stations in the city have now been attacked or forcibly taken over by Islamist rebels.
Security guards who attacked two journalists may go unpunished after authorities refused to investigate the case. Elmin Badalov and Anar Gerayly were beaten by a wealthy businessman’s private security guards on 28 July.
The two newspaper reporters had been taking photos of luxury homes in the Baku region of Shuvlan, and were then held by the guards for three hours. Police acknowledge that Badalov and Gerayly sustained considerable bruising, but they claim that a medical examination shows this could have been caused by “a serious fall”. Authorities assured journalists last year that the ban on taking photos without consent would not be used against the media.
The head of public relations at Iraq’s Al-Rasheed satellite TV station was injured by a car-bomb on 13 April, which took both of his legs and seriously injured two others. Omar Ibrahim Al-Jabouri’s car exploded in Doura, a suburb of Baghdad. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.