Baghdad - Unknown gunmen shot dead a 28-year old journalist and an artist on Friday in the northern province of Kirkuk, according to Iraqi police sources. The assistant police chief of Kirkuk said that Diyar Abbas Ahmed, who worked for Aien news agency, was accompanied by artist Abbas Baroudi, deputy of the artists' association in Iraq when they were attacked.
More than eight journalists have been killed in Kirkuk since the 2003 US-led invasion.
According to the French-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, 217 media professionals have been killed in Iraq since March 2003.
