{"id":125251,"date":"2025-05-01T11:02:29","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T11:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?p=125251"},"modified":"2025-05-01T11:02:30","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T11:02:30","slug":"calls-mount-for-release-of-2-kurdish-journalists-missing-near-damascus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/","title":{"rendered":"Calls mount for release of 2 Kurdish journalists missing near Damascus\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013<\/strong> Two Kurdish journalists working for the licensed Iraqi-Kurdish outlet &#8220;Channel 8&#8221; have gone missing near Ashrafiyat Sahnaya town in Damascus countryside, prompting urgent calls for their release from press organizations on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Free Media Union, a journalists\u2019 syndicate based in the city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria, issued a statement saying that reporter Akram Saleh and cameraman Judy Haj Ali lost contact with their team on Wednesday while covering ongoing clashes in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The incident reportedly occurred shortly after security forces took control of the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The union called on relevant authorities to \u201cimmediately disclose their whereabouts,\u201d urging international press freedom organizations to take responsibility for protecting journalists in Syria and ensuring safe conditions for media professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Akram Saleh\u2019s sister, Sherin Saleh, wrote on Facebook that both Akram and Judy are believed to be detained by Damascus\u2019 General Security forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a separate statement, the Syrian Kurdish Journalists Network appealed to the Syrian transitional government\u2019s Ministries of Information and Interior, as well as security and military bodies, for immediate action to determine the journalists\u2019 location and ensure their safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The organization expressed \u201cdeep concern\u201d over the disappearance, noting that both journalists were last heard from at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday while reporting from the conflict zone in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe disappearance of journalists during the course of their professional duties sets a dangerous precedent and constitutes a violation of press freedom, which is protected under both Syria\u2019s constitutional declarations and international conventions,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of the time of publication, Syria\u2019s Ministries of Information and Interior had not issued any comment on the incident.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>By Agid Meshmesh<\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Two Kurdish journalists working for the licensed Iraqi-Kurdish outlet &#8220;Channel 8&#8221; have gone missing near Ashrafiyat Sahnaya town in Damascus countryside, prompting urgent calls for their release from press organizations on Thursday. The Free Media Union, a journalists\u2019 syndicate based in the city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria, issued a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":125252,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-syria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Calls mount for release of 2 Kurdish journalists missing near Damascus\u00a0\u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Two Kurdish journalists working for the licensed Iraqi-Kurdish outlet &quot;Channel 8&quot; have gone missing near Ashrafiyat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Calls mount for release of 2 Kurdish journalists missing near Damascus\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Two Kurdish journalists working for the licensed Iraqi-Kurdish outlet &quot;Channel 8&quot; have gone missing near Ashrafiyat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North press agency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-01T11:02:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-01T11:02:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Journalist-Akram-Saleh-and-photographer-Judy-Ali-750x430-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"430\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"semav1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NPA_English\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NPA_English\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"semav1\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/125251\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/125251\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"semav1\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0\"},\"headline\":\"Calls mount for release of 2 Kurdish journalists missing near Damascus\u00a0\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-01T11:02:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-01T11:02:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/125251\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":288,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/125251\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/Journalist-Akram-Saleh-and-photographer-Judy-Ali-750x430-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"COMMUNITY\",\"SYRIA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/125251\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/125251\\\/\",\"name\":\"Calls mount for release of 2 Kurdish journalists missing near Damascus\u00a0\u00a0\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/125251\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/125251\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/Journalist-Akram-Saleh-and-photographer-Judy-Ali-750x430-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-01T11:02:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-01T11:02:30+00:00\",\"description\":\"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Two Kurdish journalists working for the licensed Iraqi-Kurdish outlet \\\"Channel 8\\\" have gone missing near Ashrafiyat\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/125251\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/125251\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/125251\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/Journalist-Akram-Saleh-and-photographer-Judy-Ali-750x430-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/Journalist-Akram-Saleh-and-photographer-Judy-Ali-750x430-1.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":430,\"caption\":\"Reporter Akram Saleh and cameraman Judy Ali\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/125251\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Calls mount for release of 2 Kurdish journalists missing near Damascus\u00a0\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"North press agency\",\"description\":\"North press agency\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"North press agency\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/npasyria.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/npasyria.jpg\",\"width\":682,\"height\":388,\"caption\":\"North press agency\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/NPA.SYR\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/NPA_English\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/northpressagency\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCyGMim0bdq_6W-ryV9WI29A\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0\",\"name\":\"semav1\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"semav1\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/semav1\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Calls mount for release of 2 Kurdish journalists missing near Damascus\u00a0\u00a0","description":"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Two Kurdish journalists working for the licensed Iraqi-Kurdish outlet \"Channel 8\" have gone missing near Ashrafiyat","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Calls mount for release of 2 Kurdish journalists missing near Damascus\u00a0\u00a0","og_description":"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Two Kurdish journalists working for the licensed Iraqi-Kurdish outlet \"Channel 8\" have gone missing near Ashrafiyat","og_url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/","og_site_name":"North press agency","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/","article_published_time":"2025-05-01T11:02:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-01T11:02:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":430,"url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Journalist-Akram-Saleh-and-photographer-Judy-Ali-750x430-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"semav1","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@NPA_English","twitter_site":"@NPA_English","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"semav1","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/"},"author":{"name":"semav1","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0"},"headline":"Calls mount for release of 2 Kurdish journalists missing near Damascus\u00a0\u00a0","datePublished":"2025-05-01T11:02:29+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-01T11:02:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/"},"wordCount":288,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Journalist-Akram-Saleh-and-photographer-Judy-Ali-750x430-1.jpg","articleSection":["COMMUNITY","SYRIA"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/","name":"Calls mount for release of 2 Kurdish journalists missing near Damascus\u00a0\u00a0","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Journalist-Akram-Saleh-and-photographer-Judy-Ali-750x430-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-01T11:02:29+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-01T11:02:30+00:00","description":"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Two Kurdish journalists working for the licensed Iraqi-Kurdish outlet \"Channel 8\" have gone missing near Ashrafiyat","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Journalist-Akram-Saleh-and-photographer-Judy-Ali-750x430-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Journalist-Akram-Saleh-and-photographer-Judy-Ali-750x430-1.jpg","width":750,"height":430,"caption":"Reporter Akram Saleh and cameraman Judy Ali"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/125251\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Calls mount for release of 2 Kurdish journalists missing near Damascus\u00a0\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/","name":"North press agency","description":"North press agency","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization","name":"North press agency","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/npasyria.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/npasyria.jpg","width":682,"height":388,"caption":"North press agency"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/","https:\/\/x.com\/NPA_English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/northpressagency\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyGMim0bdq_6W-ryV9WI29A"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0","name":"semav1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"semav1"},"url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/author\/semav1\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125253,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125251\/revisions\/125253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}