Washington, Dec 23 (IANS): At least 60 reporters were killed worldwide in 2014 with about one-fourth losing their lives in global trouble spots, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

An "unusually high proportion" of the international journalists lost their lives in 2014 while reporting from the world's trouble spots, Press TV reported Tuesday citing the annual review by CPJ, a non-profit organisation based in New York.

According to the report, 44 percent of the reporters were targeted for murder.

The CPJ said the number of the journalists killed in 2014 decreased from 70 in 2013, but the past three years have been the deadliest since the organisation started compiling such records in 1992.

The report said at least 17 journalists were killed in Syria in 2014. The four-year crisis in the Arab country has claimed at least 79 lives of journalists.

Five journalists and two media workers lost their lives in clashes in Ukraine between the government and pro-Russia forces.

The Israeli regime's 50-day war in the Gaza Strip over the summer saw at least four journalists and three media workers killed.

The organisation revealed that around half of the journalists were killed in the Middle East in 2014, with 39 percent of them losing their lives in combat or crossfire.