The Committee to Protect Journalists has confirmed the first two journalist killings of 2016.
According to Iraqi TV station Al-Sharqiya, correspondent Saif Talal and cameraman Hassan al-Anbaki were forced from their car and shot by gunmen near Baquba, capital of Diyala Province in Iraq.
"This deliberate killing of two journalists is a strong reminder of the need for the Iraqi government to step up measures to protect journalists, who take great risks every day," said Sherif Mansour, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, in a statement.
CPJ just two weeks ago released its annual accounting of journalists killed in 2015, and even had to update that list the following week after deaths that occurred after the report had been compiled.
"We call on Iraqi authorities to bring the killers of Saif Talal and Hassan al-Anbaki to justice as quickly as possible," said Monsour.
