The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday called on Sudanese authorities to investigate and hold to account those responsible for the Tuesday, October 10 killing of Sudanese journalist Halima Idris Salim.
In a press release seen by Radio Tamazuj, the rights group also urged all parties to the ongoing armed conflict in the country to respect the press and guarantee journalists’ safety.
“We are shocked by the brutal killing of journalist Halima Idris Salim in Omdurman, Sudan, and stand in solidarity with her family and colleagues at Sudan Bukra,” said Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator.
“It is deeply troubling that a journalist was killed during her coverage of the armed conflict in her hometown. All parties of the conflict in Sudan must respect freedom of the press and journalist safety,” Sherif added.
On Tuesday, soldiers from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed Salim when they ran over the journalist with a vehicle, according to a statement by local trade union Sudanese Journalists Syndicate.
Salim, a reporter for local independent online news outlet Sudan Bukra, was covering the conflict in the city of Omdurman, northwest of the capital of Khartoum.
CPJ said its emails to the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF received no replies.
Since fighting started in mid-April between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Froces, partly due to tensions over the Sudanese army’s attempted integration of the RSF, many journalists covering the fighting have been shot, beaten, and harassed.
More than 9,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far, according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project.
The fighting has displaced almost 4.3 million people within Sudan, while 1.2 million more have fled abroad, UN figures show.