Jörg Armbruster, a correspondent for the German public broadcaster ARD, was seriously injured by gunfire during a military clash in Aleppo on March 29, 2013, according to news reports. After emergency surgery inside Syria on the same day, Armbruster was transferred by ambulance to Turkey, where he was treated by an emergency medical team. After his condition stabilized, he was evacuated to Stuttgart on April 1, according to the ARD subsidiary SWR.
Armbruster and SWR radio correspondent Martin Drum were researching the Free Syrian Army for a documentary when they became caught in a firefight. Drum, who was uninjured, also returned to Germany. SWR said the documentary, entitled “War and Peace – The New Middle East,” was originally planned to air on June 10, 2013.
Armbruster, 65, began his career as a journalist in 1973, and his reporting on the Arab uprisings in Syria, Libya, and Egypt have become a staple for German audiences.
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert tweeted on March 30, “Terrible to hear that German reporter Jörg Armbruster was severely wounded in Syria. I hope he will be healthy soon.”