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UK journalists ‘shelled’ by Syrian forces
LONDON, May 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A British journalist working for Sky News
reported on Thursday that her team was deliberately shelled by Syrian forces,
while an activist they were travelling with was hit by shrapnel.
“We were spotted by a military drone and then repeatedly shot at with what
we believe were 125mm shells probably fired from a T-72 Russian battle tank,”
special news correspondent Alex Crawford said on the Sky News website.
“As we retreated to leave the area, the targeting of us continued,” said
the journalist, who was reporting in the jihadist-dominated northwestern
province of Idlib.
She said that one of the Sky crew had press markings on his flak jacket,
while the other was carrying a clearly visible green medical trauma pack.
“They were all clear violations of the normal standards of operation in a
battle zone,” she said, posting a dramatic video of the attack on her Twitter
account.
“Even when we withdrew to the nearby town, Khan Shaykhun, some 10km away,
the shelling followed us there and continued.”
Rebel activist Bilal Abdul Kareem was hit in the chest by shrapnel, she
said.
Syrian government aircraft bombed several towns in the region on Thursday,
killing eight civilians as troops and militia battled jihadists on the
ground, a monitor said.
The new bombardment of the region of Idlib followed strikes on Tuesday
night and Wednesday that killed 23 civilians, 12 of them at a busy market.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0900 hrs