Journalists Killed in 2015 - Motive Unconfirmed: Ahmed Mohamed al-Mousa

Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently
December 16, 2015, in Idlib, Syria

Al-Mousa, a 23-year-old editor for Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) was shot by a masked man in Idlib province, according to news reports and RBSS, the Syrian citizen journalist group CPJ honored with its 2015 International Press Freedom Award.

Abdel Aziz al-Hamza, a spokesperson for RBSS, told CPJ that al-Mousa was shot twice in the head in front of the family home in Abu al-Duhur, a town in Idlib, by an assailant on a motorcycle. In a picture CPJ has viewed of al-Mousa's body, which his family sent to al-Hamza, bandages can be seen around the journalist's head and neck.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for al-Mousa's murder. Some supporters of Islamic State claimed on Twitter that their "soldiers" killed al-Mousa, and referred to him as an "apostate" and "agent of crusaders."

The Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate that controls Idlib, told al-Hamza it is investigating al-Mousa's death.

Al-Hamza told CPJ that members of RBSS and their relatives regularly receive threats, mostly from Islamic State militants and supporters. One week after al-Mousa's murder, Islamic State claimed to have killed the journalist's aunt, Maria Hasan al-Shams, al-Hamza said. The 44-year-old teacher was taken captive by Islamic State in October after militants raided her house and found a picture on her phone of Hamoud al-Mousa, who is the brother of the dead journalist and one of RBSS's co-founders, al-Hamza told CPJ.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the murders of at least two other RBSS members. In October 2015, Ibrahim Abd al-Qader was killed alongside fellow journalist Fares Hamadi in Urfa, southeastern Turkey. In May 2014, Al-Moutaz Bellah Ibrahim was kidnapped and murdered by Islamic State.

Since April 2014, RBSS has documented the abuses of Islamic State in Raqqa. RBSS, which has been declared an "enemy of God" by the militants, also reports critically on the Assad government's bombings, other rebel forces, and civilian casualties caused by airstrikes.

According to al-Hamza, al-Mousa edited and vetted reports for RBSS from Raqqa out of Gaziantep in Turkey and Idlib in Syria. He went into hiding in Idlib several months before his death, after Islamic State kidnapped his father and released a video of his murder in August 2015.

Motive Unconfirmed: CPJ is investigating to determine whether the death was work-related.