Cameraman Alaa Uldeen Aziz (left), 33, and soundman Saif Laith Yousuf (right), 26, two Iraqi journalists working for ABC News, were forced from their car by gunman as they left work Thursday and their deaths were confirmed by ABC this morning.
The last count by Reporters Without Borders, not believed to include Aziz and Yousuf, of journalists and media staff killed in Iraq since March 2003 was 174.
According to ABC News, Aziz is survived by his wife, his two daughters and his mother. Yousuf leaves behind his fiancee, his mother and brothers and sisters.
I cannot fathom murdering journalists. Aside from taking that life, the killers are, in a sense, taking countless other lives by keeping others' stories from being told. We need to hear these stories; be reminded of those living through this nightmare are not simply numbers. Sometimes one story can make the difference.
Salaam.
Insha'allah.
