Al Jazeera journalist killed in Syria

Media network Al Jazeera has announced the death of its Arab correspondent from Syria, Mahran al-Deeri, who was killed while reporting on fighting in Al-Shaykh Maskin in the rural part of the Daraa region, reports the Patria News Agency.

According to his family members, Mahran died on Wednesday while seeking cover from government forces' gunfire when his car was hit by a vehicle of rebel fighters. He was driving with his lights off to avoid becoming a target.

Three journalists from Orient Network were killed in the same area three days ago.

Acting Director General of Al Jazeera, Mostefa Souag, stated:

- Our deceased colleague Mahran al-Deeri worked for aljazeera.net for over a year and was known for his courage, bravery, and professional work while reporting on the Syrian revolution from the Daraa region.

- Attacks on journalists will not deter us from the truthful reporting to which we have been committed for over 18 years. Through years of reporting, we have lost many colleagues on this mission, but our brave journalists are dedicated to their work despite constant dangers and challenges, he added.

Mahran al-Deeri is originally from Al-Shaykh Maskin (Daraa), where he was born in 1983. He successfully completed his journalism studies at the University of Damascus, graduating in 2008. After completing his studies, he worked for the state news agency SANA, which he left at the beginning of the revolution.

He was married and had two children.

Due to constant shelling by government forces, he left Daraa and went to Jordan briefly, but he rejected the fate of a refugee and returned to work as an independent journalist.

Al-Deeri joined aljazeera.net (Al Jazeera's Arabic portal) as a freelance journalist in October 2013.