An Iraqi contractor working for Stars and Stripes was killed by insurgents outside Baghdad early Friday morning as he and a driver returned from delivering newspapers in Fallujah.

The man, 32-year-old Muhammed Dawood, and the driver were returning from delivering newspapers in Ar Ramadi and Fallujah when two Opel cars carrying a total of five men began following them, said Ibrihim, Stripes’ contractor who hires drivers to deliver the newspaper to 10 bases in Iraq. Ibrihim asked that his family name not be used for security reasons.

The insurgents opened fire on the van, Ibrihim said.

The driver, who spoke to Ibrihim after the shooting, said he drove as fast as the Toyota would go — about 75 mph — but was unable to keep one car from passing and forcing him to a stop.

As insurgents filed out with guns, Dawood lay in the back of the van with a bullet wound and the driver remained in the driver’s seat with a flesh wound to one shoulder, Ibrihim said.

The driver told Ibrihim that he survived by pretending he was dead. Insurgents shot Dawood at close range, Ibrihim said.

The newspaper route Dawood and the driver traveled on Friday was added just two weeks ago, said Joel Saucier, a circulation manager responsible for Iraq. Ibrihim could not find drivers to travel the route before because of the danger, Saucier said.

Dawood is survived by his wife and two young children. Amanda Aguirre, a Stars and Stripes circulation manager working in Iraq, described him as a quiet man “who always managed to make us laugh.”

It was his first time delivering newspapers to Fallujah and Ar Ramadi.

Ibrihim said he planned to keep sending drivers to Ar Ramadi and Fallujah as long as they were willing to go. But he said he planned to halt deliveries for at least a day.

“I don’t think I will deliver Fallujah and Ramadi [on Saturday],” Ibrihim said. “They just lost their friend on that route.”