A media activist and photographer working with the TRT World Turkish media outlet, named as Hussein Khattab, also known as Kara al Safarani, from al Sfeira city in the southern suburbs of Aleppo southeastern suburbs, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen whilst he was filming a report on the COVID-19 pandemic near the northern cemetery in al Bab city in the eastern suburbs of the governorate on December 12, 2020.
SNHR notes that Khattab had previously survived an assassination attempt, also by unidentified gunmen, in al Bab city on September 23, 2020. SNHR is still trying to contact witnesses to obtain more details of the incident.
SNHR condemns all killings which target civilians and calls on the governing forces in each area to bear responsibility for protecting civilians in the areas under their control, and to conduct investigations and reveal their findings to the public. Stability will not be achieved in Syria without achieving a political transition towards democracy and the rule of law, implemented according to a strict timetable.
