Media activists fear for their lives in southwestern Syria

Several media activists and citizen journalists based in southwestern Syria appealed today for help so that they can leave the region as it is on the verge of falling into the hands of government forces
"No one has discussed the fate of journalists so far," al-Ahmad said, adding that many fear death under torture in the hands of Syrian troops after they take the area. "We have received death threats over the phone and through Facebook."
At the time of CPJ's most recent prison census, at least seven journalists were in Syrian state prisons while many others are missing. "Given the danger from fighting, as well as Syrian security services' heavy-handed treatment of journalists and media workers in the past, it is no wonder that the journalists in Daraa and Quneitra are afraid," CPJ's Mideast and North Africa coordinator, Sherif Mansour, said from Washingtonn

Syrian warplanes and helicopter gunships pounded on Wednesday areas in the nearby Yarmouk Basin controlled by a faction linked to the Islamic State group. The