37-year old Ahmad Abdessamad, a correspondent for the local television station al-Dijlah in Basra and his 26-year-old cameraman Safaa Ghali were shot dead in southern Iraqi city where they had been covering anti-government protests.
According to media reports, Ahmad and Safaa were in their car when a 4x4 vehicle pulled up and its passengers fired a hail of bullets into the car. Ahmad Abdessamad was killed instantly while his cameraman was taken to hospital, where he died shortly afterwards. A video of the attack later emerged on the website of Dijlah TV , showing Abdessamad slumped down in his chair.