Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Mahran Al Deeri died Wednesday while reporting on fighting in Daraa, Syria, Al Jazeera Media Network announced in a statement Thursday.
Al Deeri's family told Al Jazeera that the journalist died after crashing his car into a rebel vehicle in the city of Al Sheikh Maskin, the same part of the country where three journalists from the opposition television network Orient News were killed during a missile strike earlier this week. Al Deeri had turned off his headlights to avoid becoming the target of government fire.
"Targeting journalists will not deter us from reporting the truth which we have been committed to for over 18 years," Al Jazeera's acting director general Mostefa Souag said in a statement, referring to Al Deeri as "our martyred colleague" and attesting to his bravery, courage and professionalism in the field. "Throughout our years of coverage we have lost many colleagues on this mission but our brave journalists are committed to this despite the constant dangers and challenges."
Al Deeri, a native Syrian who worked for the government's Syrian Arab News Agency before the onset of the revolution, became a freelancer for Al Jazeera Arabic's aljazeera.net in October of 2013 and was described by a former colleague as "one of the most competent correspondents." His name is now added to a growing list of journalists who have given there lives to report on the bloody civil war raging on in Syria. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 80 members of the media have been killed in the region since 2011.
The Huffington Post has requested additional comment from Al Jazeera, and will update this post if and when a response is received.