The Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign, PEC, said on Thursday that 156 media workers were killed in 2016 in 33 countries.

According to the PEC, the figure is the highest in 10 years and an increase of 15 per cent compared to 2015.

The figure included the nine Russian journalists killed in a plane crash in the Black Sea on December 25 on their way to Syria to report on the conflict.

According to the PEC, the war in Syria has already claimed the lives of over 110 journalists since 2012.

“This figure does not cover the journalists who disappeared or those who are still in detention like the American journalist Austin Tice.

“The year 2016 was a very difficult year for the journalists’ safety.

“The price for covering news was very high with three journalists killed every week on average,’’ PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen, said.

Lempen added that two thirds of the fallen journalists were killed in war-torn countries.

The PEC records showed that 135 journalists were killed in 2015; 138 in 2014; 129 in 2013; 141 in 2012; 107 in 2011; 110 in 2010; 122 in 2009; 91 in 2008; 115 in 2007, and 96 in 2006.

The PEC is a non-governmental organisation with special consultative UN status, was founded in June 2004 by a group of journalists from several countries.

Its aim is to strengthen the legal protection and safety of journalists in zones of conflict and civil unrest or on dangerous missions.

(Xinhua/NAN)