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Middle East and North Africa

Germany's FM calls for comprehensive investigation of AP journalist death in Afghanistan

Associated Press journalist Anja Niedringhaus was killed in Afghanistan, her colleague Kathy Gannon was seriously injured

Anja Niedringhaus AP Photo/Peter Dejong

Anja Niedringhaus

© AP Photo/Peter Dejong

BERLIN, April 04. /ITAR-TASS/. Germany’s Foreign Ministry has demanded to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the killing of Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus in Afghanistan, spokesperson for the ministry said.

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Defence Minister: Russia sceptical about Western optimism over Afghanistan

Germany’s diplomatic mission in Kabul is making everything possible for clarifying the circumstances of the incident, the spokesperson added. US news agency Associated Press confirmed that Niedringhaus was killed and her colleague Kathy Gannon.

Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry said the incident took place in the Khost province in the south-east of the country. An unknown person in a police uniform opened fire on foreign journalist, instantly killing Niedringhaus and seriously wounding Canadian Gannon. The journalists were covering the upcoming presidential election in Afghanistan. The administration of the Khost province suggested that the attacker really was a policeman, and he began shooting at journalists after mistaking them for militants.

Read also

NATO-Russia projects on Afghanistan suspended

Niedringhaus had been working for Associated Press since 2002. In 2005, she was in the team of AP photographers that received Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Iraq War. Niedringhaus started her career in journalism when she was 16. Over 32 years, she worked in such hot spots as Palestine, Afghanistan and Pakistan. She had been working with Kathy Gannon for last several years. Gannon is AP special correspondent for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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Middle East and North Africa

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