ISLAMABAD: The last three months of 2023 have been the deadliest quarter for journalists in conflict zones since at least 2007, with 27 deaths, the Unesco said.

Its figures, announced on Tuesday, show that 2023 has been in particular a deadly year for journalists in conflict zones, with killings nearly doubling as compared to the past three years. At least 65 journalists have been killed in the line of duty in 2023, compared with 88 the previous year.

At least 38 journalists and media workers were killed in the line of duty in conflict zones in 2023, compared to 28 in 2022 and 20 in 2021.

Hostilities in the Middle East were responsible for a large majority of the conflict-related killings, with Unesco reporting 19 killings in Palestine, three in Lebanon and two in Israel.

These do not include journalists killed for reasons unrelated to their work, which also saw an uptick.-Amin Ahmed