Forty-eight-year-old Anja Niedringhaus, an award-winning photojournalist from Germany, was killed in eastern Afghanistan on Friday and foreign correspondent Kathy Gannon, her colleague at the Associated Press, was wounded after an Afghan police officer opened fire on their car as it was traveling in eastern Afghanistan.
"Anja and Kathy together have spent years in Afghanistan covering the conflict and the people there," said AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll. "Anja was a vibrant, dynamic journalist well-loved for her insightful photographs, her warm heart and joy for life. We are heartbroken at her loss."
According to AP:
The attack came on the eve of nationwide elections in Afghanistan. The Taliban have vowed to disrupt Saturday's vote for a new president and provincial councils.
The two were traveling Friday in a convoy of election workers delivering ballots from the center of Khost city to the outskirts, in Tani district. The convoy was protected by Afghan security forces. They were in their own car with a translator and the AP freelancer.
According to the freelancer, they had arrived in the heavily guarded district compound shortly before the incident.
As they were sitting in the car waiting for the convoy to move, a unit commander named Naqibullah walked up to the car, yelled "Allahu Akbar" — God is Great — and opened fire on them in the back seat with his AK-47, the freelancer said. He then surrendered to the other police and was arrested.
Medical officials in Khost confirmed that Niedringhaus died.
Fellow journalists and others were expressing their sadness over the death of Niedringhaus and sharing examples of her work on Twitter:
Tweets about "Anja Niedringhaus"
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