Gunmen shoot Iraqi television crew

Three members of an Iraqi television crew have been shot and wounded after being deliberately targeted by gunmen in eastern Baghdad, an Iraqi media watchdog reported on Tuesday.

Three members of an Iraqi television crew have been shot and wounded after being deliberately targeted by gunmen in eastern Baghdad, an Iraqi media watchdog reported on Tuesday.

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"A group of armed men carrying pistols and automatic guns targeted our colleagues and fired at them," the Iraqi Journalists Observatory said in a statement.

Cameraman Hameed Hasim was hit in the stomach and mouth and would undergo an emergency operation at Baghdad's Al-Kindi hospital, a medic at the hospital said.

Reporter Hassan al-Rikabi and driver Azim Habeeb were also wounded in yesterday's attack in the capital's Al-Rubaie street.
The crew work for Beladi TV, which is owned by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Dawa Party.

The watchdog, which monitors violence against the media, said 233 journalists and media workers have been killed in Iraq since 2003.