It said Gilkey and Tamanna were killed; an NRP reporter and producer also traveling with the unit were unharmed.
Advertisement
They died in an ambush Sunday while on assignment in southern Afghanistan.
NPR said in a statement that two other NPR journalists were traveling with them but were not hurt in the attack. Here, one of his images of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai (right) during a talk with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the Presidential Palace in Kabul on February 21, 2009.
“He was a gifted story teller, who understood the power of imagery to enhancing the power of understanding”, said Secretary of State John Kerry in a statement.
“The death of David Gilkey reminds us that journalists have an important role in conflict zones – as witness to the horrors and abuses of war”, International Press Institute (IPI) Executive Board Member Marty Steffens, a Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) endowed chair at the University of Missouri and the head of IPI’s North American Committee, said.
Tamanna worked as a photojournalist for the Chinese news agency Xinhua and later wrote for Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency. He died pursuing that commitment.
Gilkey and Tamanna, who was hired as a translator for NPR, were heading to Marja to cover an army operation when they were hit by a Taliban rocket.
NPR photographer David Gilkey and interpreter Zabihullah Tamanna were killed while on assignment in Afghanistan Sunday when the convoy in which they were travelling came under attack, according to NPR.
NPR photojournalist David Gilkey is pictured at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan in this May 29, 2016 handout photo.
Gilkey received many awards, including an Emmy for a 2007 video series about Marines in Iraq and an Edward R. Murrow award for his coverage of natural disasters, military conflict and worldwide breaking news.
NPR correspondent Philip Reeves, who recruited Tamanna, said he had a “great eye for a story and deep wisdom about his country”. Known as Zabi, he had years of experience as a reporter, cameraman and photographer for local and global news organizations in Afghanistan. He called him a “great colleague”.
Twenty-seven journalists have been killed in Afghanistan since 1992, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), not counting Mr Gilkey and Mr Tamanna.
His work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the prestigious George Polk Award and a national Emmy.
Worldwide, almost 1,200 journalists have died since 1992, according to CPJ’s website.
Gilkey was an award-winning journalist who had covered conflicts in Gaza, South Africa, Iraq, the Balkans and Afghanistan.
Advertisement
Of his time in Haiti, Gilkey said that his work was not just about reporting or taking pictures, it was about considering whether those visuals and stories changed people’s minds enough to take action. “But the people, the people are what made it all worth the effort”.
