David Gilkey, a longtime news photographer and video editor for National Public Radio, and Zabihullah Tamanna, an Afghan interpreter, were killed while on assignment in southern Afghanistan on Sunday. Two other NPR journalists, Tom Bowman, NPR’s Pentagon correspondent, and Monika Evstatieva, the producer, were also on the convoy.
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A National Public Radio photojournalist and his translator were killed by a roadside bomb Sunday in Afghanistan, NPR said in a statement.
The vehicle carrying Mr. Gilkey and Mr. Tamanna was destroyed, Mr. Ahmad said.
NPR’s David Gilkey and Afghan translator Zabihullah Tamanna were in an Afghan army Humvee traveling between the provincial capital of Helmand province, Lashkar Gah, and Marjah, when their vehicle was struck by an 82mm rocket during a Taliban ambush, Shakil Ahmad Tasal, a spokesman for the Afghan army’s 205th Atal Corps told Reuters.
Gilkey had been covering war and conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11.
“As a man and as a photojournalist, David brought out the humanity of all those around him”, Michael said.
Jarl Mohn, President and CEO of NPR, said in a statement: “Horrific incidents like this remind us of the important role journalists play in America’s civic life. He died pursuing that commitment”, Oreskes said. “He let us see the world and each other through his eyes”, Oreskes said.
His work on an investigation into veteran medical care and his coverage of the Ebola crisis helped secure awards for NPR.
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Mr. Gilkey was the first American journalist not in the military killed during the 15-year-long Afghan conflict; since 1992, at least 27 journalists have been killed in Afghanistan, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. In 2004, he was named Michigan “Photographer of the Year” by the Michigan Press Photographers Association.
