Two Iraqi journalists working for the US network ABC were ambushed and killed as they returned home from work at their Baghdad office, their employer announced Friday.
A statement from ABC News' president David Westin on the channel's website said cameraman Alaa Uldeen Aziz, 33, and soundman Saif Laith Yousuf, 26, were killed on Thursday afternoon when their car was attacked.
"Alaa Uldeen Aziz is survived by his wife, his two daughters and his mother. Saif Laith Yousuf leaves behind his fiancee, his mother and brothers and sisters," the statement said.
At least 170 journalists and media professionals have been killed in the fighting that has gripped Iraq since the March 2003 US-led invasion, according to the watchdog Reporters without Borders.
The vast majority of the victims have been Iraqi journalists killed by death squads and insurgent factions angered by their coverage or ideologically opposed to their employers, whether Iraq or foreign.
Others have been caught in the crossfire of conflicts between US and Iraqi forces, insurgent groups and militias and some have disappeared after being taken into custody by groups in security force uniforms.