Renowned Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who had won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2018, was killed by the Taliban on Friday while reporting from the Kandahar region of Afghanistan.
Employed at the news agency Reuters, Danish was reporting on the battle between the elite fighters of the Afghan Special Forces and the Taliban.
Quoting an Afghan commander, Reuters reported that the photojournalist was killed in Taliban crossfire when the elite Afghan fighters were battling with the Taliban to retake control over the Spin Boldak area. Spin Boldak is located at the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan and had been seized by the Taliban earlier this week.
Releasing a statement, the President of Reuters news agency, Michael Friedenberg paid his tribute and said that the organization was in contact with the regional authorities to seek more information on the matter.
Danish was travelling along with Afghan Special Forces who were on a rescue mission in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar. He had reported on Twitter on July 13 that the vehicle he was moving in was targetted by three RPG rounds but added that he was safe.
In a career spanning over a decade, Danish had captured several significant events through his lens, like the Rohingya crisis, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Nepal earthquake among others. His drone capture of burning pyres during India’s second wave of COVID-19 had drawn global attention to the health crisis in India. He was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for his coverage of the Rohingya crisis.
Reacting to Danish’s demise, Afghanistan’s ambassador to India Farid Mamundzay said,” Deeply disturbed by the sad news of the killing of a friend, Danish Seddiqi in Kandahar last night. … Condolences to his family & Reuters.”
Deeply disturbed by the sad news of the killing of a friend, Danish Seddiqi in Kandahar last night. The Indian Journalist & winner of Pulitzer Prize was embedded with Afghan security forces. I met him 2 weeks ago before his departure to Kabul. Condolences to his family & Reuters. pic.twitter.com/sGlsKHHein
— Farid Mamundzay फरीद मामुन्दजई فرید ماموندزی (@FMamundzay) July 16, 2021
