NPR photographer David Gilkey and interpreter Zabihullah Tamanna, have been killed while traveling with an Afghan military unit in southern Afghanistan.
I had linked to an NPR story with his photographs in an Afghanistan diary just yesterday.
David Gilkey, an NPR photojournalist who chronicled pain and beauty in war and conflict, was killed in Afghanistan on Sunday along with NPR's Afghan interpreter Zabihullah Tamanna.
David and Zabihullah were on assignment for the network traveling with an Afghan army unit, which came under attack killing David and Zabihullah.
David was 50 and Zabihullah, who for years also worked as a photographer, was 38-years-old.
David was considered one of the best photojournalists in the world — honored with a raft of awards including a George Polk in 2010, an Emmy in 2007 and dozens of distinctions from the White House News Photographers Association.
It is fair to say that David witnessed some of humanity's most challenging moments: He covered wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He covered the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. He covered the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa. He covered the devastating earthquake in Haiti, famine in Somalia and the Ebola epidemic in Liberia.
His images were haunting — amid the rubble, he found beauty; amid war, he found humanity.
NPR Photographer, Interpreter Killed In Afghanistan, Eyder Peralta, NPR
Afghan interpreter Zabihullah Tamanna and American photographer David Gilkey were killed today while traveling in a military convoy in southern Afghanistan, according to their employer, U.S. public broadcaster NPR. The two were traveling with an Afghan army unit near Marjah, in Helmand province, when the convoy came under attack.
"Even though much of the world's attention has shifted away, let no one doubt that Afghanistan remains a dangerous place for journalists -- local and foreign -- working to cover that protracted conflict," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "We are deeply saddened by the deaths of Zabihullah Tamanna and David Gilkey. There are too many journalists who have given their lives to tell the Afghan story."
Two NPR journalists killed in Afghanistan, Committee to Protect Journalists
The journalists were in a five-vehicle special forces convoy driving on the main road from Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province, to Marja when Taliban insurgents fired at the convoy with heavy weapons, said Shakil Ahmad, the spokesman for the Afghan National Army’s 215th Corps in Helmand.
The vehicle carrying Mr. Gilkey and Mr. Tamanna was destroyed, Mr. Ahmad said. It was not immediately clear where the other two NPR journalists were at the time of the attack.
David Gilkey, NPR Journalist, and Afghan Translator Are Killed in Taliban Ambush, Rod Nordland, New York Times
Member of Parliament Sher Wali Wardak was killed by a bomb outside his home in Kabul.
An Afghan lawmaker and at least three other people have been killed in a bomb explosion in the capital, Kabul.
MP Sher Wali Wardak was injured in the blast outside his house and died on the way to hospital, officials said.
Afghanistan: MP Sher Wali Wardak killed in Kabul bomb blast, BBC
A newly appointed chief prosecutor in Logar province was killed, along with 7 others, in an attack on a courthouse.
The attack came hours after Taliban fighters stormed a courthouse south of Kabul, killing at least seven people, including a newly appointed chief prosecutor.
At least 21 other people were wounded in the attack in Puli Alim, the capital of southeastern Logar province, the head of security for provincial police force said.
"The new head of the court was being introduced today and the assailants used the rush hour opportunity to attack the court," Nesar Ahmad Abdul Rahimzai said.
Afghanistan: Kabul MP killed in bomb attack, Al Jazeera