‘He was our eye’: Reuters photographer killed in Afghanistan

LONDON (AP):

A Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer for the Reuters news service was killed Friday as he chronicled fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban near a strategic border crossing amid the continuing withdrawal of US and NATO troops.

Danish Siddiqui, 38, had been embedded with Afghan special forces for the past few days and was killed as the commando unit battled for control of the Spin Boldak crossing on the border between southern Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Siddiqui was part of a team that won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for their coverage of Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar. More recently, he had captured searing images of India’s struggle against COVID-19 and protests against new farming laws.

Farhat Basir Khan, a professor of mass communications at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, lauded his former student’s sense of empathy and his determination to go after difficult and complex stories.

“He was our eye. He gave voice and agency to thousands whose suffering might have been lost,” Khan said in a statement. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, his were worth millions.”

Siddiqui and a senior Afghan officer were killed as the special forces unit fought to retake the main market area in Spin Boldak, Reuters reported, citing the army.

The Taliban have turned over Siddiqui’s body to the International Committee of the Red Cross, Indian authorities said.

Reuters said it was seeking more information about how Siddiqui was killed, describing him as a “devoted husband and father, and a much-loved colleague”.