Kurdish journalists Nazim Daştan and Cîhan Bilgin were killed in a Turkish drone strike on Thursday 19 December as they drove along a road in the Sirrin district near the city of Kobani (Kobanê), northeast Syria. They were returning from covering the latest developments at the Tishreen Dam, where fierce clashes are taking place between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Turkish army and Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) as part of Turkey’s attempt to invade the city of Kobani, known for its historic resistance to ISIS.
According to initial reports, the two journalists were killed instantly when a Turkish drone strike targeted their car, while the driver of the car, Aziz Hec Bozan, was injured. Both Nazim Daştan and Cîhan Bilgin had been reporting daily from the war zone in northern Syria, covering the Turkish occupation policy against the Kurdish people and other minorities in the region.
Videos circulating on SNA-affiliated media claim to show the aftermath of the attack, showing a burning car and a lifeless body lying on the ground next to a road.
