Reporter killed in Baghdad: NYT

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi reporter working for the New York Times was shot dead on his way to work in Baghdad on Friday, the newspaper said.

Khalid Hassan, 23, died a day after a photographer and driver working for Reuters were killed in the city in what witnesses said was a U.S. helicopter attack but which the military described as a firefight with insurgents.

Hassan was shot dead in the southern Saidiya district of the capital, the Times said in a statement. The circumstances of the attack were unclear, it said.

"Khalid ... was a resourceful and brave member of our news team, who met the many professional and personal challenges of his four years on our staff with enduring good humor and optimism," said John Burns, the paper's Baghdad bureau chief.

Iraqi police blamed U.S. military action for the deaths of Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22 and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40, on Thursday.

The U.S. military said the pair died after a clash between its troops and insurgents on Thursday. The incident was under investigation, it has said.

Besides the inherent dangers of working in a war zone, journalists are increasingly being targeted by militias and al Qaeda militants, making it the most dangerous place in the world to report.

At least 23 reporters have been killed since the start of May, based on a count kept by Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders. Its toll since the U.S.-led 2003 invasion is 195, with 14 Iraqi journalists missing.