Taliban deny role in Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui’s death: Report 

Expressing regret over the 38-year-old Reuters journalist’s death in Kandahar, the Taliban’s spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said, “We are not aware during whose firing the journalist was killed. We do not know how he died."  

“Any journalist entering the war zone should inform us. We will take proper care of that particular individual," the Taliban’s spokesperson told CNN-News18 on Friday. 

Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday during clashes between Taliban fighters and Afghanistan’s security forces near a border crossing with Pakistan, Reuters cited an Afghan commander as saying. 

“We are sorry for Indian journalist Danish Siddiqui’s death. We regret that journalists are entering war zone without an intimation to us," Mujahid added. 

The Afghan Ambassador to India, Farid Mamundzay, confirmed the news of his death on Friday. 

The photojournalist was killed in a Taliban strike when he was on a reporting trip along with Afghan security personnel. 

"Deeply disturbed by the sad news of the killing of a friend, Danish Seddiqi in Kandahar last night. The Indian Journalist & winner of Pulitzer Prize was embedded with Afghan security forces. I met him two weeks ago before his departure to Kabul. Condolences to his family & Reuters, " tweeted Farid Mamundzay. 

In 2018, Siddiqui and his colleague Adnan Abidi became the first Indians to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for their coverage of the Rohingya refugee crisis. 

Siddiqui had been regularly posting photographs from Afghanistan on social media as the Taliban is rapidly gaining territory at a time when the US and its allies are retreating.  

On July 13, he last posted a Twitter thread with photos reporting what he was seeing there.  

(With inputs from agencies)