Indian Photojournalist Danish Siddiqui Killed In Kandahar, Afghan President Expresses Shock

Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed in clashes in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar city in Afghanistan, state media reported on Friday.

Indian Journalist Danish Siddiqui (Image: @danishpix/Instagram)

New Delhi: Pulitzer Prize-winning Reuters Chief Photographer Danish Siddiqui has been killed in clashes that ensued in Kandahar's Spin Boldak district, a city in Afghanistan, state media Tolo News confirmed.

The Indian journalist was covering the situation in Kandahar over the last few days.

AFP reported that Afghan forces clashed with Taliban fighters in Spin Boldak after an operation was launched to retake the vital border crossing with Pakistan on Friday.

On June 13, he had reported that the vehicle he and other special forces were travelling in was targeted with at least 3 RPG rounds and other weapons.

"I was lucky to be safe and capture the visual of one of the rockets hitting the armour plate overhead," he said in of his tweets.

He regularly shared his work on social media and his last tweets covered Afghanistan -- a country where the Taliban is currently making territorial gains at a time when the United States and its allied armies are withdrawing

Siddiqui had been actively posting images of the Afghan Special Forces on various frontlines across the country.

He last posted photos on Instagram, on July 15 which had pictures documenting what he was witnessing there.

Among other news events, Siddiqui had covered the Nepal earthquake in 2015, Battle of Mosul in 2016-17, the 2019–2020 protests in Hong Kong, the 2020 Delhi riots and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Siddiqui was based in Delhi. He had received the Pulitzer Prize as part of the Photography staff of Reuters.

Danish graduated with a degree in Economics from Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi. He had a degree in Mass Communication from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre at Jamia in 2007.

He started his career as a television news correspondent, switched to photojournalism, and joined Reuters as an intern in 2010.

This comes as the Taliban captured Spin Boldak district in Kandahar this week. Fierce fighting has been underway in Kandahar, especially in Spin Boldak, for the last few days.

In response to queries regarding Siddiqui's death in Afghanistan, the Official Spokesperson, Shri Arindam Bagchi said: "Our Ambassador in Kabul is in touch with Afghan authorities. We are keeping his family informed of the developments".

Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani expressed his condolences by saying that he was deeply saddened by the shocking reports that photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed "while covering the Taliban atrocities in Kandahar".

"While I extend my heartfelt condolences to Sediqqui’s family and also to our media family, I reiterate my government’s unwavering commitment to freedom of speech and protection of free media and journalists," he added.