Number of journalists killed in 2018 so far soars by 57 pct:

The number of journalists killed this year has soared to 44 in 18 countries during the first four months of 2018, up from 28 in the same period last year, the Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) said Wednesday.

In a statement, PEC said it "deplored the dramatic increase in media victims as the world celebrates World Press Freedom Day tomorrow, Thursday 3 May 2018", adding that the number of journalists killed from January to April has soared by 57 percent from the same period last year.

"The PEC is appalled by the death of 9 journalists in two explosions in the Afghan capital Kabul on 30 April. An attacker, disguised as a cameraman, detonated explosives at the site of the initial explosion, according to officials," the PEC said in the statement, strongly condemning "this heinous terrorist attack targeting journalists among the crowd".

According to the NGO, The most dangerous countries for journalists since the beginning of this year are Afghanistan with 11 killed, Mexico (4), Syria (4), Ecuador (3), India (3) and Yemen (3).

"Following the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta and Jan Kuciak in Slovakia, PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen calls upon States to take additional measures for protecting journalists by running independent investigations, coupled with follow-ups to reach the perpetrators and to bring them to justice at all levels," the PEC said.

Last year, the PEC reported that for the first time since 2008, it had registered less than 100 fatalities among media workers worldwide throughout 2017.

PEC said that since the beginning of 2017 to Dec. 15, 97 journalists were killed in 28 countries, a reduction of 24 percent in media casualties compared with last year, when the figure was 156.

For the year 2017 Syria was the most dangerous country for media workers with 69 killed.

Founded in June 2004 by an international group of journalists, the PEC is a non-governmental organization (NGO) with special consultative United Nations (UN) status, whose aim is to strengthen the legal protection and safety of journalists in conflict zones, areas of civil unrest, or on dangerous missions.