BEIRUT: Three crew members of Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV station were killed Monday after they came under fire in the Syrian town of Maaloula, as politicians offered condolences and praised those killed as “martyrs.”

Al-Manar identified the men as reporter Hamzah Hajj Hasan, 29, technician Halim Allaw and cameraman Mohammad Mantash. Several other crew members were wounded, the station said. With a shaky voice, a teary-eyed anchorwoman announced the death of Hajj Hasan and Allaw, saying “takfiri terrorists” killed the men while they were covering the Syrian army takeover of Maaloula, a predominantly Christian town not far from the Lebanese border. The station also broadcast footage of the bullet-riddled four-wheel-drive vehicle the three men were traveling in when the attack took place. The vehicle was marked press. [Link]