Pulitzer Prize-Winning Reuters Journalist Killed in Afghanistan

Photo by DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP via Getty Images.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist was killed on Friday while covering clashes between Afghan security forces and the Taliban, reported his employer, Reuters, citing an Afghan commander.

Danish Siddiqui, who had worked for the wire service since 2010 and was based in Mumbai, was killed along with a senior Afghan officer during fighting in a market area near a border crossing with Pakistan that Afghan security forces tried to take back from the Taliban, reported Reuters.

Siddiqui, who was embedded since earlier in the week with Afghan forces, won in 2018 the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for documenting Rohingya refugees fleeing Burma.

“We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region,” said Reuters president Michael Friedenberg and editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni. “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.”

Afghanistan and the United States extended condolences.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he was “deeply saddened with the shocking reports” of Siddiqui’s passing and gave condolences to his family, while White House 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.”