The Syrian driver who took Japanese journalist Mika Yamamoto into the war-torn city of Aleppo said she had been shot dead by militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, after following rebels on a mission to rescue civilians.
The 38-year-old driver, who gave his name only as Abdulrahman, told Reuters Yamamoto and her colleague Kazutaka Sato had crossed the Turkish border with two journalists working for the U.S.-funded al-Hurra television, and asked to be taken to the northern city of Aleppo. The al-Hurra journalists were reported detained by the militiamen in Aleppo and have not been heard of since.
Abdulrahman said the group had been regularly entering the northern city of Aleppo from Turkey. They had asked him to take them to Salaheddine, an area of the city where rebels have been fighting Assad's forces for weeks.