Know why living in Syria is risky for a journalist

New Delhi: Syria is one of the deadliest places in the world for journalists. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 29 journalists were killed in Syria in 2013 and 31 in 2012. In 2011, when the Syrian civil war began, mainly during Arab Spring, over 110 foreign correspondents, Syrian professional journalists and citizen journalists were killed for reporting. Since then, reporting from the war zone remains risky for a journalist in Syria. The Bashar al- Assad's regime has put curbs on freedom of press, and journalists have been the first targets of his rule. Moreover, both sides in the conflict do not support the coverage of the uprising.Initially, the Syrian government started arresting reporters who were covering the anti- government protests. The killings included notable war correspondents like Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik who were killed in a shelling where they were covering the Homs battle.Colvin was a very brave and determined reporter who could risk her life for the welfare of informing people about the ongoing crisis. She was known for her eye patch which she wore after losing sight in her left eye while reporting during an attack in Sri Lanka in 2001.Ochlik had covered conflicts from Haiti to Libya, and he won first prize in the 2011 World Press Photo general news category for a photograph of a rebel fighter resting in front of a rebel flag in the war-torn landscape of Libya's Ras Lanuf. Right after their deaths, one of the UK dailies, had reported that the Syrian army was tracking journalists's satellite phone activity.Colvin and Ochlik also died due to the satellite phone tracking system when they were found in a building converted to an impromptu media center. Even, CPJ had confirmed that Syrian government had used internet surveillance and high tech tools to track down rebels.The violence in Syria can be compared to the Second Chechen War in Russia where the censorship for coverage of the war was imposed.