Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist killed in fighting in Afghanistan

A photojournalist has been killed in clashes between the Afghan army and the Taliban. Indian journalist Danish Siddiqui reported on the fighting between Afghan commandos and Taliban fighters in the town of Spin Boldak, near the border with Pakistan, for Reuters news agency.

An Afghan commander told Reuters news agency that Siddiqui and an officer were killed as the military attempted to retake the region’s key market area. During that operation, the soldiers were fired upon by the Taliban. The area was occupied by the group the day before yesterday. The country has been in turmoil since US troops withdrew from Afghanistan.

Siddiqui, who was awarded a prestigious Pulitzer Prize for his work in 2018, told his employer shortly before his death that he had been hit in the arm by shrapnel. He had been treated for that, but was said to have been killed in another attack. According to the commander, the journalist spoke to shop owners when the Taliban attacked.

Pulitzerprijs

Reuters says it is not yet sure what exactly happened. “We are urgently seeking more information and are working with authorities in the region,” Reuters director Michael Friedenberg and editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni wrote in a statement. “Danish was an outstanding journalist, a devoted husband and father and a much-loved colleague. Our thoughts are with his family at this terrible time.”

Siddiqui has been a photographer at the international news agency since 2010, covering the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and the protests in Hong Kong, among others. For the photos he took of the Rohingya refugee crisis with colleagues at Reuters in 2018, he was awarded the prestigious Pulitzerprijs in de categorie ‘Feature Photography’.

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