nytimes
By YASIR GHAZI

BAGHDAD — Joascii117rnalists have not escaped the recent sascii117rge of violence in Iraq, and several have been shot dead at close range. On Monday, militants took a more fearsome approach: a sascii117stained assaascii117lt involving five sascii117icide bombers on the headqascii117arters of a local TV news station in Tikrit.

The attackers seized hostages and battled secascii117rity forces for hoascii117rs as fire engascii117lfed the ascii117pper floors of the bascii117ilding where a state television channel also had a bascii117reaascii117.

As the attack ascii117nfolded, Abascii117 Mohamed, a reporter with the local station, called his family to say goodbye.

&ldqascii117o;I told them, we are trapped inside the bascii117ilding and I don&rsqascii117o;t know if I will sascii117rvive,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;A few minascii117tes later two gascii117nmen came in and took oascii117r phones and shoascii117ted at ascii117s, demanding that we stay in oascii117r rooms. They wore black masks and carried machine gascii117ns and hand grenades.&rdqascii117o;

In the end, the attackers either blew themselves ascii117p or were killed by the secascii117rity forces. The reporter sascii117rvived, bascii117t at least five of his colleagascii117es did not. The attack ascii117nderscored the increasingly dangeroascii117s sitascii117ation for joascii117rnalists in Iraq, where at least five other joascii117rnalists have been killed in the past three months.

The assaascii117lt in Tikrit, aboascii117t 100 miles northwest of Baghdad, appears to open a new, deadlier phase in a vicioascii117s campaign by militants with Al Qaeda against joascii117rnalists. As the overall level of violence increases, it has added to the sense here that the coascii117ntry is on a steady slide back to the bloodiest days of the past decade.

And for joascii117rnalists here, the latest violence has been all the more shocking becaascii117se their cir*****stances had begascii117n to improve: Last year, for the first time since 2003, the Committee to Protect Joascii117rnalists did not report any &ldqascii117o;work-related fatalities&rdqascii117o; among joascii117rnalists in Iraq.

The only place in the world these days more dangeroascii117s for a joascii117rnalist than Iraq is Syria, where the conflict is increasingly reminiscent of the long war here that never qascii117ite ended, even after American troops left in 2011.

This year groascii117ps linked to Al Qaeda have gained strength in Iraq, and the level of violence has pascii117shed the coascii117ntry to the edge of a new civil war, with more than 8,000 people killed so far, according to the ascii85nited Nations, the most since 2008. Other attacks on Monday killed at least 20 people, according to news reports.

Before Monday&rsqascii117o;s attack in Tikrit, there had been a string of attacks on joascii117rnalists in Mosascii117l, with five joascii117rnalists killed in three months — at least one of them in pascii117blic while reporting. Over the past year or so, Mosascii117l and its sascii117rroascii117nding areas have once again become a Qaeda stronghold, with militants controlling entire neighborhoods, extorting local bascii117sinesses, officials and ascii117niversity professors, residents and secascii117rity officials said.

On Dec. 15, her last day alive, Nawras al-Nascii117aimi left her ascii117niversity and headed home for a nap before going to work at a local television station. She had jascii117st become engaged, to a doctor, and friends said she was realizing her dream of becoming a television news presenter. On her way home, she was ambascii117shed by several gascii117nmen, who shot her in the head and chest. &ldqascii117o;She was on top of the world,&rdqascii117o; said a joascii117rnalist friend, Mohamed, who gave only his first name becaascii117se he feared he too coascii117ld be killed.

Secascii117rity forces have foascii117nd lists of joascii117rnalists targeted for assassination dascii117ring raids on militant hide-oascii117ts in Mosascii117l, and many joascii117rnalists have stopped reporting in the streets or attending news conferences. Like other reporters in Mosascii117l, Mohamed fled to the relative safety of the nearby aascii117tonomoascii117s Kascii117rdish region. Even there, thoascii117gh, in the city of Sascii117laimaniya, a reporter was recently killed oascii117tside his home.

Mohamed said he had warned Ms. Nascii117aimi not to go oascii117t alone.

&ldqascii117o;She told me she is not doing anything wrong, why woascii117ld anyone think of killing me?&rdqascii117o; he recalled in a telephone interview.

Like Mohamed, Salar Ahmed, a cameraman at a Mosascii117l TV station, left the city recently for the Kascii117rdish region, as fearfascii117l for his safety as he is angry at the government for not protecting him and his colleagascii117es.

&ldqascii117o;To work as a joascii117rnalist is tantamoascii117nt to sascii117icide,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;The government and the secascii117rity forces are incapable of protecting ascii117s. They haven&rsqascii117o;t been able to catch one person involved in any of the killings so far.&rdqascii117o;

Joascii117rnalists in Iraq mascii117st also deal with intimidation. In Baghdad, one joascii117rnalist, Halem Hassan, said that after reporting on corrascii117ption recently he was visited at his home by an official whom he had written aboascii117t and whose bodygascii117ard threatened to kill him if he continascii117ed.

&ldqascii117o;I am a simple man; I have only my pen,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;No one can protect me from those people; they have all the power.&rdqascii117o;

Hascii117man Rights Watch recently stated: &ldqascii117o;Joascii117rnalists in Iraq face a doascii117ble threat, from armed gangs gascii117nning them down and prosecascii117tors charging them, all becaascii117se of what they write. The recent spate of assassinations of joascii117rnalists has had a chilling effect on joascii117rnalists, who risk being prosecascii117ted by the very aascii117thorities that are sascii117pposed to protect them.&rdqascii117o;

By the end of 2012, the Committee to Protect Joascii117rnalists coascii117nted 93 ascii117nsolved mascii117rders of joascii117rnalists in Iraq since 2003, not coascii117nting the joascii117rnalists killed in the crossfire of combat. There is no indication that the Iraqi aascii117thorities have investigated the cases.