'Grim pattern' of journalists' deaths in Afghanistan warns press freedom group

Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders has warned that a "grim pattern" of  journalists being killed by roadside bombs is emerging in Afghanistan.

RWB has offered  its heartfelt condolences to the family and colleagues of Sunday Mirror defence correspondent  Rupert Hamer (pictured),  who was killed yesterday when the US military vehicle in which he was travelling was hit by a roadside bomb in southwestern Afghanistan.

“Our thoughts are also with his colleague, photographer Philip Coburn, who was seriously wounded in the blast, and we hope he will soon be out of danger,” the press freedom organisation said.
“The resurgence of violence in which journalists are among the victims poses one of the main dangers for the media in Afghanistan. Hamer’s tragic death serves as reminder that journalists risk their lives every day to report the news. It also highlights the fact that, despite the danger, being ‘embedded’ has become one of the only ways to cover the war in Afghanistan from close up.”
RWB  added: “Yesterday’s tragedy comes just 10 days after Michelle Lang, a 34-year-old reporter for the Calgary Herald, died in similar circumstances. Lang, who was embedded with the Canadian military, was killed when the military vehicle she was in was hit by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. A grim pattern is being set.”
A total of 12 foreign journalists and eight Afghan journalists have been killed in Afghanistan since 11 September 2001.