By Xinhua,
Basra, Iraq : An Iraqi cameraman was critically wounded in a roadside bomb explosion while covering the return of local popular bands in the southern city of Basra, a local police source said here Wednesday.
Udai Sabri, cameraman of the state-run Iraqia television, was seriously injured by the blast which occurred on Monday in the neighborhood of Seimur in central the city, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Sabri and a team of Iraqi a television were covering the revival of local bands which provide popular music after closing their doors for the past three years under threats by militiamen led by radical Shiite clerics, the source said.
Late in March, U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces launched major offensive against Shiite militias and restored security and control on oil-hub city of Basra.
The international watchdog Reporters Without Borders listed Iraq as the most dangerous country in the world for journalists and media workers with at least 235 killed the country since the start of U.S.-led war in March 2003.
Statistics of the Iraqi Union of Journalists show that more than 270 of its members and media workers have been killed during the period.