[ad_1]
Kabul, Afghanistan – A Pulitzer Prize-winning Reuters news agency photographer was killed on Friday while covering fighting between Afghan security forces and the Taliban near a border post with Pakistan, the outlet reported, citing an Afghan army commander. Afghan forces were fighting to retake Spin Boldak when Dane Siddiqui and a senior Afghan officer were killed in Taliban crossfire, the official told Reuters.
MOHAMMAD ISMAIL / REUTERS
The agency reported that Siddiqui, an Indian national, had been part of the Afghan special forces in Kandahar as of this week.
“We are urgently seeking more information, together with authorities in the region,” Reuters Chairman Michael Friedenberg and Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni said in a statement. “Danish was an exceptional journalist, a devoted husband and father and a much appreciated colleague. Our hearts go out to his family at these terrible times.”
Reuters said Siddiqui previously reported receiving shrapnel wounds in his arm while covering the fighting.
He was treated and was recovering when Taliban fighters withdrew from the fighting at Spin Boldak.
The agency said it was unable to independently verify details.
Siddiqui was part of a team to share the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for background photography for documenting the Rohingya refugee crisis. The agency said it had worked for them since 2010, covering the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Rohingya refugee crisis, the Hong Kong protests and the earthquakes in Nepal.
Chargé d’Affaires Ross Wilson, the top US diplomat in Afghanistan, expressed his condolences to Siddiqui’s family in a series of tweets on Friday. He called it “a tragedy for #Afghanistan and the world that the Danish is the last of the 54 reporters who have been killed or murdered” in the country.
As CBS News correspondent Charlie D’Agata reported, Taliban militants have gained significant ground since the US troop withdrawal began in earnest this year, taking districts across the country and circling provincial capitals before that. that many fear could be a push to regain control of the country by force when the US withdrawal is completed in late August. The insurgent group claims to control over 80% of Afghan territory.
Attacks on journalists and prominent afghan women have increased over the past year as the Taliban have reasserted themselves. The ISIS branch in the country has also claimed responsibility for the murders of several women journalists.
Mujib Khalwatgar, director of Nai, a media watchdog and rights organization that promotes free speech in Afghanistan, told CBS News earlier this year that security and financial threats forced at least 10 stations Afghan radio stations to close in 2020. Nearly a dozen journalists were killed in the country in 2020, according to Nai.
“We have recorded at least 11 cases of murder, 20 cases of injuries, 10 cases of kidnapping and over 30 cases of beatings in 2020,” Khalwatgar told CBS News.
Ahmad Mukhtar, of CBS News, said journalists face constant threats, intimidation and violence, not only from militant groups but also from state actors. Many Afghan journalists have been threatened or intimidated for their work by government security agencies and civilian officials. Some have been attacked and beaten.
Fewer than 1,000 US troops remain in the country and, as of August, only around 650 US Marines are expected to remain in Afghanistan after 20 years of war. They will focus on the defense of the US Embassy in Kabul and the main international airport.
[ad_2]
Source link