(AP) — A media advocacy group says at least 70 journalists were killed on the job around the world in 2013.

A year-end report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says that 29 journalists died covering the war in Syria. Ten were slain in Iraq. Six died in Egypt.

Committee deputy director Robert Mahoney says the Middle East has become a “killing field” for journalists.

He says the international community must prevail on all governments and armed groups to respect the civilian status of reporters.

The committee has been tracking deaths among print and broadcast journalists since 1992.

Most of the killings it has documented over the years involve people who are covering news in the places they live.