RWB: Sixty-Six Journalists Killed this year

                         

The Paris-based press freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) says a total of 66 journalists have been killed while performing their duties across the world this year.

According to the report released Tuesday, Syria, where 15 journalists have been murdered, remains the most dangerous country to work in for the second year in a row.

Seven reporters died when covering events during the Middle East conflict, while six others were killed in Ukraine and four each in Iraq and Libya.

In its annual report the group says 66 reporters have been killed in connection to their work over the past year, down 7 percent on 2013.

In India in May this year, a journalist, Tarun Kumar Acharya, was killed and in Pakistan two journalists -- Irashad Mastoi and Abdul Rasool -- met a similar fate in August, the report added.

Meanwhile, the number of those kidnapped during journalistic activities has been on the rise. A total of 119 reporters were abducted this year around the world, with most cases reported in Ukraine (33), followed by Libya (29), Syria (27) and Iraq (20).

This figure is 37 percent higher than last year, when a total of 87 journalists were abducted.

The report says 178 journalists have been sentenced in 2014 due to their professional activities. A total of 29 reporters are serving jail terms in China, 28 in Eritrea, 19 in Iran, 16 in Egypt and 13 in Syria.