Top US Reporter Sexually Assaulted on Egypt Tahrir Square

Lara Logan is CBS News' Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent and has reported from Iraq and Afghanistan. Photo by actualno.bg

A senior CBS correspondent is recovering in hospital in the US after she was beaten and sexually assaulted by a mob while covering the Egyptian protests, the US network, cited by BBC, informs Wednesday.

The attack occurred Friday in Cairo's packed Tahrir Square after President Hosni Mubarak stepped down and reporter Lara Logan became separated from her crew. She was rescued by a group of women and about 20 soldiers.

In a statement, CBS said that Logan and her team had become became "surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration" with a mob of more than 200 people "whipped into a frenzy".

Lara Logan, 39, a South Africa native, returned to the US on Saturday and is recovering following "a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating," according to the CBS reports.

Logan is CBS News' Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and has reported from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the attack was "alarming", describing Logan as a "brilliant, courageous, and committed reporter".

CPJ further informs 52 journalists were assaulted and 76 detained during events in Egypt. All of them had since been released.

According to the CPJ annual report issued on Tuesday, Pakistan was the deadliest country for journalists in 2010, with 8 killed while doing their job, out of 44 worldwide.

The number of jailed reporters in 2010 reached 145, an increase from previous years

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