A Syrian journalist who was shot by Daesh gunmen in the Turkish city of Gaziantep on Sunday is now in critical condition, fighting for his life, after being severely injured.
The Daesh-affiliated news agency, Amaq, reported Monday that "a security detachment that belongs to ISIS shot yesterday the journalist Zaher al-Shurqat, who anchors anti-ISIS TV programs."
According to the report, Daesh gunmen shot Shurqat in his head with a silenced pistol in front of his workplace in Gaziantep.
"Aleppo Today," the TV channel where Shurqat works, denied reports about the Syrian journalist's death, emphasizing that he is still alive, hospitalized in a medical center in Gaziantep.
Shurqat was among the first Syrians to join the fight against Daesh in the Syrian border town of al-Bab. He was a commander of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Brigade, a Syrian opposition faction that later merged with the biggest rebel group in Syria, Ahrar al-Sham.
After Daesh seized the town of al-Bab in March 2014, Shurqat headed to Turkey, where he anchored a TV program that documented daily life in Aleppo under Daesh control. He also anchored a program titled "ISIS as reflected by commanders," which covered the opinions of commanders in the Free Syrian Army about Daesh.
The Turkish city of Gaziantep, inhabited by many Syrian activists opposing Daesh, has recently witnessed several assassination attempts committed by Daesh gunmen. Daesh' recent victim in the city was the Syrian journalist, Naji Jerf, who was assassinated in December 2015. Jerf turned into a Daesh target after he started working in Raqqa Slaughtered Silently, a group of Syrian journalists that document the systematic violations of human rights committed by the organization in Raqqa.
By Mayyan Groisman
Editor's note: This article has been edited from the source material
