Gilkey and Tamanna were traveling with an Afghan army unit in an armored Humvee when their vehicle was hit by rocket-propelled grenades in an apparent ambush, killing the two and their driver, an Afghan National Army soldier, NPR reports.
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US Secretary of State John Kerry praised the “gifted storyteller”, noting that “this attack is a grim reminder of the danger that continues to face the Afghan people, the dedication of Afghan national defense and security forces to securing their country and of the courage of intrepid journalists – and their interpreters – who are trying to convey that important story to the rest of the world”. The other two journalists on the team, Monika Evstatieva and Tom Bowman, were not injured. They were not hurt.
He received the George Polk Award in 2010 and a national News and Documentary Emmy in 2007.
This is the first time in the 46 year history of NPR that one of its journalists have been killed while on assignment.
Zabihullah Tamanna, left, and David Gilkey in Afghanistan on June 2.
Steve Knopper, a feature writer at the Daily Camera in the early ’90s who’s now a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, said Gilkey was only in his 20s but was already “just absolutely a talent”.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack and called it cowardly and “completely against all the principles and values of Islam and humanity, and against all global laws”. Mr. Gilkey and Mr. Tamanna were on assignment for NPR.
Tears streaking her face, the wife of an Afghan reporter killed alongside U.S. journalist David Gilkey paced skittishly around her Kabul apartment block for more news, as relatives eager to cushion the shock lied that he was still alive.
His images were always striking, whether he was capturing the actions of pandas in adorable videos or the horrors of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Veteran correspondent Phillip Reeves, who recruited Tamanna to NPR, called him “a great colleague”. Afghan News Agency on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook. “But the people, the people are what made it all worth the effort”.
Last year, he was honored with the Edward R. Murrow Award for his coverage of global breaking news, military conflicts and natural disasters – the first time the Corporation for Public Broadcasting presented the prize to a multimedia journalist.
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Before coming to NPR, Gilkey worked for the Detroit Free Press.
