Int'l, European Journalists' Federations Condemn Journalist's Killing In Northern Ireland

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) in a joint statement on Friday condemned the killing of freelance journalist Lyra McKee as the result of shooting in the city of Londonderry in Northern Ireland

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th April, 2019) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) in a joint statement on Friday condemned the killing of freelance journalist Lyra McKee as the result of shooting in the city of Londonderry in Northern Ireland.

Overnight, the police said that one woman was killed after shots were fired and petrol bombs were thrown in Londonderry during the riots, adding they are treating the shooting as a "terrorist incident."

"The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) join their affiliate the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK and Ireland in condemning this killing and call on a full investigation into her death," the statement reads.

IFJ President Philippe Leruth added that McKee's death was "a real loss for press freedom in Europe."

McKee, 29, was a rising star of investigative journalism, extensively covering the Northern Irish conflict with the focus on the victims of violence.

She previously worked with The Belfast Telegraph and other media outlets such as Atlantic magazine, BuzzFeed portal, and the Mediagazer news site.

According to the local police, the Irish Republican Army (New IRA), a local republican revolutionary paramilitary organization, is most likely to be responsible for the attack.

The New IRA is a nationalist group protesting the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that put an end to the nearly 30-year period of violence and terrorist attacks in Northern Ireland. Over the past few years, the New IRA has carried out several terrorist attacks in the region. In particular, on February 22, 2017, its militants attempted to blow up a police car in Londonderry. In the 1970s and 1990s, clashes between local Catholics and Protestants occurred in Northern Ireland, accompanied by terrorist attacks. The attacks also occurred in the 2010s.