Citizen journalist among 11 civilians killed in northwest Syria

A young citizen journalist was among 11 civilians killed in air raids on Syria’s Idlib region Sunday, rescue workers and a monitor said, as he filmed the Russia-backed regime bombardment of the battered enclave. Anas al-Dyab, a photographer and videographer in his early 20s, was a member of the White Helmets who also contributed to AFP. He was killed in Russian air strikes in the town of Khan Sheikhun, rescuers and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The White Helmets, rescue workers in rebel areas named after their distinctive hard hats, said the group “mourns the fall of a hero Anas al-Dyab, a volunteer and media activist with the Syrian Civil Defence Centre in Idlib,” in a Twitter post. An AFP journalist saw White Helmet members gather to bid farewell to their friend, whose body was laid on a thick red blanket. The Damascus regime and its Russian ally have stepped up their deadly bombardment of the jihadist-run region of Idlib since late April, despite a September buffer zone deal to protect the region of some three million people from a massive military assault.

Khan Sheikhun, a town in the south of Idlib, has been particularly hit, forcing thousands to flee their homes there, according to the United Nations. But Dyab “chose to remain with his fellow volunteers in Khan Sheikhun till today,” the White Helmets said. Raed al-Saleh, the head of the White Helmets, said Dyab was killed while “trying to show the world what’s going on in Syria”. “It’s a great loss,” he said. Dyab, who was single, leaves behind his parents and three brothers, one of whom is held by the Damascus regime, Saleh said.