An exhausted Rohingya refugee woman touches the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal, in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, on Sept. 11, 2017. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Danish Siddiqui, who worked for the Reuters news agency based out of India, was killed Friday while on assignment in southern Afghanistan after coming under fire by Taliban militiamen.
Siddiqui, who was 38 years old, had been embedded with Afghan special forces in southern Kandahar province when he was killed along with a senior Afghan officer, Reuters reports.
Candles are placed by journalists next to portraits of Danish Siddiqui as a tribute in Kolkata, India, on Friday, after the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer with the Reuters news agency was killed covering fighting between Afghan security forces and the Taliban. Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP via Getty Images
"We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region," Reuters President Michael Friedenberg and Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni said in a statement. "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."
A Rohingya refugee pulls a child as they walk to shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, on Sept. 10, 2017. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
Siddiqui was reporting from Afghanistan as U.S. forces complete their withdrawal, ordered by President Biden to wrap up by Sept. 11. As the U.S. leaves, the Taliban — long held at bay by American might — have been rapidly capturing territory, leading to concern that the Afghan government could collapse.
Siddiqui reported to his editors earlier on Friday that he had sustained a shrapnel wound to the arm during a clash between Afghan troops and the Taliban at the town of Spin Boldak, but that he had been treated for the injury, according to Reuters. Later, as he was interviewing local shopkeepers, the Taliban attacked again, the news agency said, quoting an Afghan commander.
A health worker reacts on April 29, 2020, before the burial in New Delhi of a police officer who died of complications related to COVID-19. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
Siddiqui is best known for his work covering the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh, for which he and his co-workers won journalism's top prize in 2018. The Pulitzer board cited the "shocking photographs that exposed the world to the violence Rohingya refugees faced in fleeing Myanmar."
Ahmad Shah, 28, an Afghan policeman, sits in an armored vehicle after being rescued by Afghan special forces, in Kandahar province on July 13, 2021. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
"I shoot for the common man who wants to see and feel a story from a place where he can't be present himself," Siddiqui once wrote of his photography.
In a statement on Friday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he was "deeply saddened with the shocking reports" of Siddiqui's death. Ghani extended condolences to the journalist's family.
A Naga Sadhu, or Hindu holy man, wears a mask before the procession for taking a dip in the Ganges River during Shahi Snan at "Kumbh Mela," or the Pitcher Festival, amid the pandemic in Haridwar, India, on April 12, 2021. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
Siddiqui had been a Reuters photographer since 2010. In addition to his work covering the Rohingya and Afghanistan, he also shot pictures for the news agency during the war in Iraq, the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests of 2019-2020 and the deadly earthquakes in Nepal in 2015.
In recent months, Siddiqui chronicled a growing COVID-19 wave that swept through India, killing thousands. The assignment was not without controversy, as some in India expressed outrage over photos showing mass cremations of those who died from the disease.
Fireworks explode over participants during a torchlight procession during the celebration marking the 70th anniversary of North Korea's foundation in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Sept. 10, 2018. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
Saad Mohseni, the CEO of Afghanistan's MOBY Group, the largest media company in the country, described Siddiqui as "an extremely brave and talented journalist" and said his death "tragically demonstrates the dangers that journalists in Afghanistan face for doing their jobs."
A participant stands behind a rainbow flag during a vigil in Mumbai, India, on June 16, 2016, held in memory of the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
Mohseni said that Afghan journalists were being killed or threatened.
"Despite these dangers, they continue to do their work, reporting on the fighting that is consuming the country, on the human rights violations that are proliferating, and on the urgent humanitarian needs of the people of Afghanistan," he said.
According to a United Nations report this year, 33 journalists were killed in Afghanistan between 2018 and 2021.
Displaced Iraqis flee during a fight between Iraqi counterterrorism service forces and Islamic State militants in western Mosul, Iraq, on May 15, 2017. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
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