Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer killed in Afghanistan

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Danish Siddiqui was killed in Afghanistan on Friday.

Siddiqui, who worked for Reuters, was killed while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan, an Afghan commander told the news outlet.

“We are deeply saddened to learn that our photographer, Danish Siddiqui, has been killed in Afghanistan,” Reuters President Michael Friedenberg and editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni said in a statement posted to Twitter.

“We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and support Danish’s family and colleagues. Danish was an outstanding, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, a devoted husband and father, and a much-loved colleague. Our thoughts are with his family at this time,” Friedenberg and Galloni said.

Statement from Michael Friedenberg, President, Reuters, and Alessandra Galloni, Editor-in-Chief, Reuters, on Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui pic.twitter.com/nrBc8BgQaa

— PR Team at Reuters (@ReutersPR) July 16, 2021

Siddiqui had been a photographer for Reuters since 2010 and has covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Rohingya refugee crisis, the Hong Kong protests and earthquakes in Nepal, according to the wire service.

In 2018, he was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in feature photography for “shocking photographs that exposed the world to the violence Rohingya refugees faced in fleeing Myanmar.”

Siddiqui was embedded as a journalist earlier this week in the province of Kandahar. 

Afghan special forces were trying to retake the main market area of Spin Boldak. Siddiqui told the news outlet that his arm had been wounded by shrapnel earlier on Friday while reporting the clash.

Taliban fighters later retreated from fighting in Spin Boldak. Siddiqui was talking to shopkeepers when the Taliban attacked again, the Afghan official told Reuters.

A spokesperson for the Taliban told Reuters that the Taliban was not aware the was a journalist reporting at the site, and said it was not clear how Siddiqui had been killed.

In response to Siddiqui’s death, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan wrote on Twitter that “media working in #Afghanistan & journalism itself in the country is under increasing threat.”

“Our deep condolences to family & friends of @dansiddiqi. A painful reminder of mounting dangers faced by media in Afghanistan. Authorities must investigate this & all killing of reporters,” the mission said.

Media working in #Afghanistan & journalism itself in the country is under increasing threat. Our deep condolences to family & friends of @dansiddiqi. A painful reminder of mounting dangers faced by media in Afghanistan. Authorities must investigate this & all killing of reporters https://t.co/GGMM7pIzXr

— UNAMA News (@UNAMAnews) July 16, 2021

The White House later Friday sent its condolences following Siddiqui’s death. Press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted: “Our condolences to @dansiddiqui’s family, loved ones, and colleagues at @Reuters. Journalists should be able to do their vital work safely and free from repression or fear of persecution. The senseless violence in Afghanistan must stop.”

Our condolences to @dansiddiqui’s family, loved ones, and colleagues at @Reuters. Journalists should be able to do their vital work safely and free from repression or fear of persecution. The senseless violence in Afghanistan must stop.https://t.co/HHA2bmpdE5

— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) July 16, 2021