Maher Abdelaziz, an engineer for the pro-opposition channel Orient TV, was injured in a rocket attack on February 19, 2018, in the rebel-held eastern Ghouta area outside of Damascus, according to his employer and the Syrian Journalists Association.
Abdelaziz said he had just finished live broadcasting airstrikes and shelling from al-Assad- aligned forces on the town of Hamumouriyeh, and was traveling to Mesraba, a neighboring town, when shrapnel from a rocket explosion hit him.
“I saw some rockets falling on the road. A surface-to-surface rocket exploded next to our mobile unit, and I was hit by shrapnel in the back of my head and my right foot. My friends sustained minor injuries,” Abdelaziz said referring to his two civilian friends Nizar al-Turk and Mohammad Mar’o who were in the vehicle with him at the time of the rocket attack.
Abdelaziz said their vehicle crashed as a result of the explosion, and they ran to hide in a nearby river where at approximately 30 rounds of RPGs were fired at Abdelaziz. The engineer said he hid for two and a half hours before walking a kilometer to a nearby ambulance station.
Medics took Abdelaziz to a medical point in Hammouriyeh for treatment and was discharged the next day, Abdelaziz said.
Eastern Ghouta has been under constant shelling, airstrikes, and rocket fire from al-Assad forces and their allies since February 18, 2018 to the date of publication, according to news reports. The London-based human rights group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at 250 people.
Russia has denied any involvement in the airstrikes on eastern Ghouta, which has been under siege since 2013, according to news reports.