In Memoriam: Journalist Mika Yamamoto killed in Syria

In a story too horrific for words - on Monday August 21, 2012 with video of the civil war in Syria - the inside of a van carrying a Japanese correspondent narrates to the camera as they drive to an explosion in Aleppo, the largest city in Syria. The award-winning journalist who worked for The Japan Press, Mika Yamamoto was the reporter narrating. She is then shot dead. There was another journalist seen in the video behind her, it is Bashar Fahmi, a reporter for Al-Hurra network. 

The sad fate of Yamamoto underscores the extreme dangers that journalists face covering stories in war-torn countries like Syria. Fahmi, a Jordanian citizen of Palestinian origin, and his Turkish cameraman, Cuneyt Unal, are said to have been captured in the city of Aleppo amid the shooting that killed Yamamoto, highlighting the extreme threat to journalists who report firsthand on the Syrian conflict, which by some estimates has killed more than 20,000 people and forced well over 1 million to flee their homes since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began in March 2011.

Yesterday, the father of Austin Tice, said he hasn't heard from his son in more than a week. Tice, a former Marine, has reported for The Washington Post, McClatchy Newspapers and other media outlets from Syria, where he recently spent time with rebel fighters.

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