Iraq TV journalist killed north of Baghdad: Officials

The journalist was covering the Shiite militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq

An Iraqi cameraman has been killed and a correspondent for the same television channel wounded north of Baghdad while covering a militant offensive, security and medical officials said today.

It was not immediately clear when Khaled Ali died and Moatez Jamil suffered injuries near Diyala provincial capital Baquba, which Al-Ahad TV reported on its website.

A police colonel and a doctor confirmed the casualties to AFP.

The pair were covering the Shiite militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq, which is among several groups helping the armed forces try to repel militants that have captured a vast swathe of territory north of Baghdad.

"As the fighting in Iraq escalates, so too does the danger journalists face in reporting on the conflict," said Sherif Mansour, Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

"We call on all sides to take every effort to protect journalists and allow them to perform their essential work."

Since June 9, insurgents, led by the powerful Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, have seized Iraq's second biggest city Mosul, all of the surrounding Nineveh province and chunks of three more.