Award-winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui killed in Afghanistan

An award-winning photojournalist, Danish Siddiqui was covering the situation in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province when he was killed during a clash between Afghan troops and the Taliban in the Spin Boldak district.

In his early 40s, Siddiqui was based in Mumbai and was a recipient of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize with six others working as a photographer with Reuters news agency in 2018.

Starting out as a TV news correspondent, Siddiqui had later shifted to photojournalism. On Friday, Afghanistan's Ambassador to India Farid Mamundzay tweeted, “Deeply disturbed by the sad news of the killing of a friend, Danish Seddiqi in Kandahar last night (July 15). The Indian Journalist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize was embedded with Afghan security forces," he continued, "I met him 2 weeks ago before his departure to Kabul. Condolences to his family & Reuters."

The deceased journalist was an economics graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi. He later pursued mass communication from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre at Jamia in 2007 before starting his career. He joined Reuters in 2010 as an intern. 

The news comes after Taliban captured the district in Kandahar with fierce exchanges between the Taliban and the Afghan forces underway ever since.