A team of Jin TV journalists were travelling in a media company car near Qamishli, a city located close to the Syrian-Turkish border, when the vehicle was hit by a suspected drone attack by Türkiye on August 23. According to media reports, the journalists were travelling on assignment. 

This is the second time Tûrkiye has been  accused of attacking journalists in the region. Last December another journalist was killed in a similar attack with airstrikes in the countryside of Al-Hasakah Governorate, in northeastern Syria.

Jin TV driver Faisal Haj Sinan is the 17th media worker to be killed in 2023 so far, according to IFJ data.  

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “We are deeply saddened by the killing of media employee Faisal Haj Sinan while performing his work, and wish a speedy recovery to our colleague Dalila Agid. The IFJ demands an independent investigation into this attack. Crimes against journalists must not go unpunished.”

Bellanger insisted that “more protection is needed at the international level to ensure that journalists’ and media workers are not targeted. That is why the IFJ is campaigning for the adoption of a new international convention at the UN level to enhance journalists’ safety.”