Middle East sees most hostage-taking of journalists in 2021, report says
Reporters Without Borders said of the 65 journalists held by nonstate actors worldwide, nearly all were abducted in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
Nearly all the journalists who are held hostage around the world were abducted in the Middle East, according to Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) yearly report on journalists who are detained, held hostage, missing or killed on the job.
The advocacy group says at least 65 journalists and media workers are currently held by nonstate actors. Of them, 44 were seized in Syria, 11 in Iraq and nine in Yemen. Many are presumed dead.
The region recorded a rise in hostage-taking of journalists, although four Yemeni journalists were freed in 2021. American-born activist and self-styled journalist Bilal Abdul Kareem was released by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) after six months.
According to the RSF report, as of Dec. 1, 28 journalists had been abducted by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq whose bodies have never been found. Today, RSF says the biggest threat to journalists in Syria is HTS, the US-designated terrorist group that controls Syria’s Idlib province.
