Taliban Hunted Down And Executed Pulitzer-Winning Photojournalist, Says Report

A new report revealed more details about the death of Reuters India photojournalist Danish Siddiqui and how he was first hunted down by the Taliban, then brutally executed.

In the report by the Washington Examiner’s Michael Rubin, it was revealed that Siddiqui was hit by a shrapnel when a firefight ensued between the Taliban and the Afghan National Army team that the photojournalist was traveling with to cover fighting at the Spin Boldak region on July 16. Local authorities said Siddiqui was still alive when he was sent to a mosque for treatment.

The Taliban then raided the mosque after discovering that Siddiqui was there. The photojournalist was captured and executed, along with the Afghan army commander and remnants of the team who attempted to get him out of the mosque.

In a video and photos reviewed by Rubin as provided by the Indian government, Siddiqui was shown to have been beaten in the head and shot multiple times in the body. A photo said to be of Siddiqui after the execution showed the photojournalist’s face was recognizable, however, Rubin wrote that the militant group “riddled his body with bullets.”

Regarding the Taliban’s motives for their hunting down and murder of Siddiqui, Rubin wrote that the photojournalist's brutal death “shows that they do not respect the rules of war or conventions that govern the behavior of the global community.” Rubin added that details about Siddiqui’s death now prove he did not merely die during a crossfire.

In its report following confirmation of Siddiqui’s death, Reuters reported that Siddiqui was "killed covering a clash between Afghan forces and Taliban fighters." Reuters president Michael Friedenberg had said in a joint statement with Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni that the news agency was “urgently seeking more information” and cooperating with Afghan authorities regarding the matter.

Shortly after Siddiqui’s death made the news, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the militant group was unaware that a journalist was on-site covering the fighting. Mujahid added that there were no clear details on how Siddiqui died.

U.S. State Department principal deputy spokesperson, Jalina Porter, had said the government was “deeply saddened” to hear of Siddiqui’s death “while covering fighting in Afghanistan.” Porter called for “an end to the violence,” noting that many journalists have lost their lives in Afghanistan.

Contributing editor at CNN-News 18, Aditya Raj Kaul took to Twitter to call out the “deafening” silence of “the western media” regarding the true details of Siddiqui’s passing.

Siddiqui, 41, had been with Reuters for more than 10 years. In 2018, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize after covering Myanmar’s Rohingya refugee crisis. Siddiqui said previously that he enjoys coverage of various news stories but he enjoys “capturing the human face of a breaking story” the most.

Some of Siddiqui's best photos can be seen below.