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List of journalists killed during the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)

Afghanistan map
Char Dara District
Char Dara District
Taloqan
Taloqan
D.-e Qaleh
D.-e Qaleh
Jalalabad
Jalalabad
Jabal Saraj
Jabal Saraj
Bamiyan
Bamiyan
Kabul
Kabul
Kandahar
Kandahar
Zhari
Zhari
Tarin Kowt
Tarin Kowt
Lashkar Gah
Lashkar Gah
Nawa-I-Barakzayi
Nawa-I-Barakzayi
Places in Afghanistan where journalists were killed during the war. Blue pins mark the location where more than 1 journalist was killed in an attack. A gold pin marks the location for multiple attacks.

List of journalists killed during the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) accounts for journalists killed while reporting about the war.

Afghanistan

Date Name Location Notes Refs
16 July 2021 Danish Siddiqui India Spin Buldak, Kandahar Indian photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize winner, working for Reuters. He was killed along with a senior Afghan officer while covering Afghan Special Forces' attempt to retake an area from Taliban in Spin Buldak district of Kandahar. [1]
11 May 2019 Mina Mangal Afghanistan Kabul Afghan journalist, activist and political advisor. Shot dead in Kabul under suspicious circumstances (possible honour killing). [2]
30 April 2018 Shah Marai Afghanistan Kabul Afghan photojournalist working for the Agence France-Presse. He was killed along with several other journalists in an ISIL suicide bombing while covering the April 2018 Kabul suicide bombings. [3]
5 June 2016 David Gilkey United States Helmand Province US photojournalist for NPR. Killed in Taliban ambush while traveling with a convey of Afghan soldiers. Initially thought to have been killed by an RPG, but further investigation showed that cause of death was severe burns. [4]
5 June 2016 Zabihullah Tamanna Helmand Province Afghan Journalist working for NPR as an interpreter. Killed by gunfire during Taliban ambush along with another NPR journalist. [4]
4 April 2014 Anja NiedringhausGermany Khost Province German photojournalist working for the Associated Press. She was shot by a man wearing a police officer's uniform while covering the country's 2014 presidential election. [5]
11 March 2014 Nils HornerSweden Kabul Reporter for Swedish Radio SR - He was killed during a talk with his Afghan translator on the street of the capital Kabul. He was war correspondent of the Swedish Radio station since 2001 and reported for them from the Afghanistan and Iraq war. [6]
23 January 2014 Noor Ahmad Noori Helmand Province Reporter for Radio Bost - Noori was tortured and killed in Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province by an unknown assailant. His body was found in a plastic bag in a Lashkar Gah suburb. [7]
21 February 2012 Sadim Khan Bhadrzai Urgon District The director of Radio Mehman – Melina was killed by an unknown assailant. [8][9]
28 July 2011 Ahmad Omaid Khpalwak Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan A soldier from the International Security Assistance Force mistakenly killed Khpalwak, who worked for Pajhwok Afghan News and the BBC News, while clearing a broadcasting building of possible enemy. [10]
24 June 2010 James P. Hunter United States Zhari district, Kandahar Province Killed while covering a foot patrol. The first US military journalist to die in the War in Afghanistan. [11]
10 January 2010 Rupert Hamer United Kingdom Nawa, Nawa-I-Barakzayi District, Helmand Province The British Sunday Mirror war correspondent and his photographer were traveling with US troops when their vehicle hit an IED. Hamer died along with a US marine. His photographer survived with injuries as well as other injured soldiers. [12]
30 December 2009 Michelle Lang Canada Kandahar, Kandahar Province The Calgary Herald reporter was killed by an IED that was struck by the vehicle carrying Lang and 4 Canadian soldiers. [13]
9 September 2009 Sultan Munadi Char Dara District, Kunduz Province An Afghan interpreter held captive with British colleague Stephen Farrell of the New York Times, Munadi was killed during the rescue attempt. [14]
7 June 2008 Abdul Samad Rohani Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province The first Pajhwok Afghan News and BBC News journalist to be killed after being abducted and found dead the next day. His captors taunted him with the fate of Ajmal Naqshbandi before killing him. [15]
15 January 2008 Carsten Thomassen Norway Kabul The Norwegian journalist worked for Dagbladet and was killed in a Taliban terrorist attack on a hotel in the capital. [16]
6 June 2007 Zakia Zaki Jabal Saraj, Parwan Province Shot in her home, she was the owner of a radio station and a critic of the Taliban. [17]
8 April 2007 Ajmal Naqshbandi Helmand Province He was the fixer for kidnapped Italian-Swiss journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo of La Repubblica. His execution was the subject of a documentary film. The team driver Sayed Agha was also killed. [18][19]
7 October 2006 Christian Struwe Germany Baghlan Province Struwe and Fischer, who worked as freelance documentary filmmakers for Deutsche Welle, were murdered in their tent on the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the war. [20]
7 October 2006 Karen Fischer Germany Baghlan Province Fischer and her colleague Struwe were believed to be on their way to the Buddha statues in Bamyan Province that were destroyed under the Taliban. Their killing brought to three the number of German journalists killed in the war. [20]
22 July 2006 Abdul Qodus Kandahar The camera operator for TV Aryana was killed in the second of two blasts from a suicide bombing. [21]
26 November 2001 Ulf Strömberg Sweden Taloqan, Kunduz Province The Swedish TV4 camera operator was killed in a robbery of a house where several Swedish journalists were staying. [22]
19 November 2001 Harry Burton Australia Between Jalalabad and Kabul The Reuters and Australian photojournalist was killed in an ambush with colleague Haidari and two others. [23]
19 November 2001 Azizullah Haidari Between Jalalabad and Kabul Reuters photojournalist and native of Afghanistan who died alongside three foreign journalists in an ambush. [23]
19 November 2001 Julio Fuentes Spain Between Jalalabad and Kabul Fuentes was on assignment from El Mundo when the vehicle he was sharing with his colleagues from Reuters and the Italian press was ambushed. [23]
19 November 2001 Maria Grazia Cutuli Italy Between Jalalabad and Kabul The Corriere della Sera reporter was traveling with colleagues from Reuters and El Mundo when they were ambushed. [23]
11 November 2001 Pierre Billaud France Dasht-e Qaleh The Radio Tele Luxembourg reporter was one of five journalists who were attacked while riding a tank while reporting. Three were killed and two survived the attack. [24]
11 November 2001 Johanne Sutton France Dasht-e Qaleh The Radio France International was the first female journalist to die in the War in Afghanistan. Killed in the same tank attack as Billaud and Handloik. [24]
11 November 2001 Volker Handloik Germany Dasht-e Qaleh The German freelance journalist was one of three to die in the tank attack. Two journalists, Australian Paul McGeough and French Véronique Reyberotte, survived. [24]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Reuters Photographer Killed In Kandahar Had Tweeted "Lucky To Be Safe"". NDTV. 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  2. ^ Frogh, Wazhma (24 May 2019). "Mena Mangal: Journalist and TV presenter who sought to empower women". The Independent. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Journalists among 25 dead in Kabul suicide bombings". USA Today. Archived from the original on 17 March 2023.
  4. ^ a b Little, Robert (9 June 2017). "Not A Random Attack: New Details Emerge From Investigation Of Slain NPR Journalists". NPR. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  5. ^ Anja Niedringhaus: Deutsche Fotografin in Afghanistan erschossen, zeit.de, retrieved 4 April 2014 (in German)
  6. ^ "British-Swedish journalist shot dead in Afghanistan". The Guardian. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  7. ^ "YOUNG RADIO JOURNALIST TORTURED AND KILLED IN HELMAND". Reporters Without Borders. 24 January 2014. Archived from the original on 26 January 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  8. ^ "Afganistan: aparece decapitado el cuerpo del periodista Sadim Bhadrzai Khan" (in Spanish). Miradas. 27 February 2012. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  9. ^ "Sadim Khan Bhadrzai". Committee to Protect Journalists. 21 February 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  10. ^ Plunkett, John (27 July 2011). "BBC journalist killed in Afghanistan". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  11. ^ Hall, Kristin. "Army Staff Sgt. James P. Hunter". The Military Times. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  12. ^ Milmo, Cahal (10 January 2010). "Sunday Mirror journalist killed in Afghan blast". The Independent. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  13. ^ "5 Canadians killed in Afghanistan". CBC News. 30 December 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  14. ^ Schmitt, Eric (9 September 2009). "As Menace to Hostages Grew, British Moved In". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  15. ^ "BBC Afghan reporter is shot dead". BBC News. 8 June 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  16. ^ "Taleban attack Kabul luxury hotel". BBC News. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  17. ^ "Husband reveals threats to Afghan journalist". BBC News. 14 June 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  18. ^ "Execution video raises concerns for Afghan hostages". Euronews. 4 November 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  19. ^ "Taleban kill Afghanistan reporter". BBC News. 8 April 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  20. ^ a b "2 German journalists killed in Afghanistan on 5th anniversary of U.S. invasion". WHDH 7 News. 7 October 2006. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  21. ^ "Suicide bomber kills TV employee covering death of two Canadian soldiers". International Freedom of Expression Exchange network. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  22. ^ Cozens, Claire (27 November 2001). "Swedish TV cameraman killed in Afghanistan". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  23. ^ a b c d McCarthy, Rory (20 November 2001). "Journalists Believed Dead After Ambush". The Guardian.
  24. ^ a b c "A Nation Challenged: The News Media; Two French Radio Journalists and a German Are Killed in Taliban Ambush of a Rebel Force". The New York Times. 13 November 2001. Retrieved 27 December 2012.

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