NEW YORK, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- The war in Afghanistan contributed to a dramatic increase in the number of journalists killed in 2001, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
A total of 37 journalists were killed worldwide in 2001, a sharp increase from 2000 when 24 were killed, said CPJ, a New York-based group that defends press freedoms around the world.
Ann Cooper, the group's executive director, said the dramatic rise was due to the war in Afghanistan, where eight journalists were killed covering the U.S.-led military campaign.
A ninth journalist died in 2001 of wounds sustained in Afghanistan two years before.
This was the highest death toll recorded for a single country since 1999, when 10 journalists were killed in Sierra Leone.
"Journalists covering the war in Afghanistan showed extraordinary courage, but we should also remember that journalists around the world who uncovered corrupt, illegal acts and graft at high levels of power were murdered with impunity," said Cooper.
The committee noted that most journalists who were killed were not covering combat. They were killed in such countries as Bangladesh, China, Thailand and Yugoslavia, she said.
In addition to the 37 cases described in this report, the committee continues to investigate the deaths of another 19 journalists whose killings may have been related to their work.
