New Delhi: State media Tolo News confirmed that Pulitzer Prize-winning Reuters chief photographer Danish Siddiqui has been killed in clashes in Kandahar’s Spin Boldak district, a town in Afghanistan.
Indian journalists had been covering the situation in Kandahar for the past few days.
Afghan forces clashed with Taliban fighters in Spin Boldak after an operation began on Friday to cross the crucial border with Pakistan, AFP reported.
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On June 13, he reported that the vehicle in which he and other special forces were traveling had been hit with at least 3 RPG rounds and other weapons.
“I was lucky to be safe and saw the armor plate of a rocket hit the top,” he said in his tweet.
He regularly shared his work on social media and his last tweet covered Afghanistan – a country where the Taliban is currently making regional gains at a time when the United States and its allies are retreating. .
Siddiqui was actively posting photographs of Afghan special forces on various fronts across the country.
He last posted photos on Instagram on July 15, documenting what he was seeing there.
In other news programmes, Siddiqui covered the Nepal earthquake in 2015, the Battle of Mosul in 2016-17, the 2019-2020 protests in Hong Kong, the 2020 Delhi riots and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Siddiqui lived in Delhi. He received the Pulitzer Prize as part of the photography staff of Reuters.
Danish graduated in economics from Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi. He did his degree in Mass Communication from AJK Mass Communication Research Center in Jamia in 2007.
He began his career as a television news correspondent, switched to photojournalism, and joined Reuters in 2010 as an intern.
The Taliban this week captured the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar. In Kandahar, especially in Spin Boldak, there is a fierce battle going on for the last few days.
In response to questions regarding Siddiqui’s death in Afghanistan, Mr. Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesman, said: “Our ambassador in Kabul is in touch with the Afghan authorities. We are keeping his family informed of the developments.”
Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani offered his condolences, saying he was deeply saddened by the shocking reports that photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed “while covering up Taliban atrocities in Kandahar”.
“While I extend my heartfelt condolences to Siddiqui’s family and our media family, I reiterate my government’s unwavering commitment to freedom of expression and the protection of independent media and journalists,” he said.
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