NPR Photographer, Interpreter Killed In Afghanistan While Traveling with Local Military

Monika Evstatieva, AP
Monika Evstatieva, AP

NPR released the following:

David Gilkey, an NPR photojournalist who chronicled pain and beauty in war and conflict, was killed in Afghanistan on Sunday along with NPR’s Afghan interpreter Zabihullah Tamanna.

David and Zabihullah were on assignment for the network traveling with an Afghan army unit, which came under attack killing David and Zabihullah.

David was 50 and Zabihullah, who for years also worked as a photographer, was 38-years-old.

David was considered one of the best photojournalists in the world — honored with a raft of awards including a George Polk in 2010, an Emmy in 2007 and dozens of distinctions from the White House News Photographers Association.

The Wall Street Journal has more on the death:

Mr. Gilkey, along with two of his colleagues, were on a month-long assignment traveling around the country with local security forces. He was killed when his vehicle was struck by shellfire late Sunday afternoon. Mr. Gilkey’s interpreter, Zabihullah Tamanna, was also killed, while his colleagues were traveling in a separate vehicle and were unharmed.

The incident took place in the vicinity of a former U.S. military base known as Camp Hansen, in Helmand province’s Marjah district.

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