Reuters reporter Danish Siddiqui was eliminated on Friday while covering a clash in between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan, an Afghan leader stated.
Afghan unique forces had actually been combating to retake the primary market location of Spin Boldak when Siddiqui and a senior Afghan officer were eliminated in what they referred to as Taliban crossfire, the main informed Reuters.
Siddiqui had actually been embedded as a reporter given that previously today with Afghan unique forces based in the southern province of Kandahar and had actually been reporting on combating in between Afghan task forces and Taliban fighters.
“We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region,” Reuters President Michael Friedenberg and Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni stated in a declaration.
“Danish was an exceptional reporter, a dedicated spouse and daddy, and a much-loved associate. Our ideas are with his household at this awful time.”
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani stated in a declaration on Twitter that he was “deeply saddened with the stunning reports” of Siddiqui’s death and extended acknowledgements to his household.
Siddiqui informed Reuters he had actually been injured in the arm by shrapnel previously on Friday while reporting on the clash. He was dealt with and Taliban fighters later on pulled back from the battling in Spin Boldak.
Siddiqui had actually been speaking to storekeepers when the Taliban assaulted once again, the Afghan leader stated.
Reuters was not able to separately confirm the information of the restored battling explained by the Afghan military authorities, who asked not to be determined prior to Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry made a declaration.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid stated the Taliban had actually not understood there was a reporter reporting from the website of what he referred to as a “intense fight” which it was unclear how Siddiqui had actually been eliminated.
Taliban fighters had actually caught the border location on Wednesday, the second-largest crossing on the border with Pakistan and among the most crucial goals they have actually accomplished throughout a quick advance throughout the nation as U.S. forces take out.
Thirty-3 reporters were eliminated in Afghanistan in between 2018 and 2021, the United Nations stated in a report this year.
Ten reporters were eliminated on April 30, 2018, consisting of 9 press reporters and professional photographers who passed away in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, and a reporter working for the Afghan language service of the BBC who was shot in the eastern city of Khost.
That day was the most dangerous for the nation’s media given that the Taliban were ousted in a U.S.-led project in 2001.
Siddiqui belonged to the Reuters photography group to win the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for recording the Rohingya refugee crisis.
A Reuters professional photographer given that 2010, Siddiqui’s work covered covering the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Rohingya refugees crisis, the Hong Kong demonstrations and Nepal earthquakes.
