New Delhi, 17 July 2021:The Indian Journalists Union condoles the death of award-winning photo-journalist Danish Siddiqui, while covering a fierce battle between Afghan security forces and Taliban militants in Kandahar province. At the same time, the IJU condemns the killing  and demands that Taliban respect press freedom and ensure safet of journalists who are carrying out their duties.

Danish, was Chief Photographer of Reuters in India and a member of its photography team which won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for their images of the Myanmar Rohingya crisis. He was on a reporting assignment ahead of the US troops withdrawing from Afghanistan on September 11 and according to Reuters he was embedded with a convoy of Afghan forces that was ambushed by Taliban militants near a key border post with Pakistan.

In a statement, IJU President and former Member of Press Council of India Geetartha Pathak and Secretary General and Vice President of International Federation of Journalists Sabina Inderjit said that the passing away of Danish, a courageous photographer, is a great loss to journalism. At the same time, the IJU condoles the death of many other Afghan journalist colleagues who have been targeted by the Taliban and sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.