KABUL, Afghanistan - A Pulitzer-prize winning photographer for bberitaa.blogspot.com was killed and a reporter from the news agency was wounded in eastern Afghanistan on Friday by an Afghan police officer.
Anja Niedringhaus, 48, a renowned photographer who had covered numerous conflicts, and Kathy Gannon, 60, the reporter, were shot in Khost Province in eastern Afghanistan where they had traveled to cover preparations for the country's presidential election on Saturday. Both had spent many years covering the war in Afghanistan and knew the country well.
Ms. Gannon, who was shot twice, was receiving treatment at a hospital in the city of Khost, the provincial capital. The A.P. said that she was in stable condition and talking to medical personnel.
'Anja and Kathy together have spent years in Afghanistan covering the conflict and the people there,'' said Kathleen Carroll, the executive editor of the news agency. '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.'
Afghan police officers and soldiers have shot and killed scores of troops from the American-led coalition in recent years, and at times have turned on civilians working with foreign forces. But the attack on Friday was believed to be the first time an Afghan police officer had intentionally killed a foreign journalist.
Afghan and Western officials believe most of the so-called insider attacks have been driven by personal animosity or anger about the larger war in Afghanistan, where many have come to view foreign forces as occupiers. Authorities declined to speculate on what motivated Friday's shooting and there was no immediate claim of credit from the Taliban, which often boasts of having many infiltrators in the Afghan security forces and takes credit when soldiers or the police turn on foreigners.
Ms. Niedringhaus and Ms. Gannon had spent Thursday night at the compound of the provincial governor in Khost city, and had left on Friday morning with a convoy of election workers delivering ballots to an outlying area in Tanai district, The A.P. and Afghan officials said.
The convoy was protected by the Afghan police and soldiers and operatives from the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan's main intelligence agency, said Mubzarez Zadran, a spokesman for the provincial government. Ms. Niedringhaus and Ms. Gannon were in their own car, traveling with a driver and an Afghan freelance journalist who was working with the news agency.
After the convoy arrived at the government compound in Tanai, Ms. Niedringhaus and Ms. Gannon were waiting in the back seat for the convoy to start moving again when a police commander approached the car and looked through its windows. He apparently stepped away momentarily before wheeling around and shouting 'Allahu Akbar' - God is Great - and opening fire with his AK-47, witnesses and The A.P. said. His shots were directed entirely at the back seat.
Ms. Niedringhaus was killed instantly.
The police commander, identified by authorities as Naqibullah, 50, then surrendered to other officers and was arrested. Witnesses said he was assigned to the force guarding the government compound and was not one of the officers traveling with the election convoy.
Both Ms. Niedringhaus and Ms. Gannon had years of experience covering conflicts. Ms. Niedringhaus, a German who joined The A.P. in 2002, was part of a team of photographers who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for the news agency's coverage of the war in Iraq.
Ms. Gannon, who is Canadian, has spent three decades covering Afghanistan and Pakistan. She was one of the few Western reporters who the Taliban permitted to work in Kabul when the Islamist militants ruled Afghanistan.
Posted by Unknown on Friday, April 4, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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