A journalist from a local television network in Iraq has been killed by the Islamic State group.

Governor Raed Ibrahim said Raad al-Azzawi, who was a cameraman for Iraq's Salahuddin Television, was killed by militants in the city of Tikrit. Ibrahim said he wasn't able to provide any further details.

The Islamic State group, which holds large swathes of land stretching across the Iraq-Syria border, has beheaded a number of journalists in Syria, saying the killings are in retaliation to US-led coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.

Reporters Without Borders said last month that the militants had threatened to execute al-Azzawi, a father of three, for refusing to join the Sunni militant group.

The media watchdog said al-Azzawi was abducted on September 7.

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