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| Afghanistan |
| Details Emerge About Killing of Afghan and American Journalists |
| 2016-06-11 |
| Award-winning American journalist David Gilkey and his Afghan videographer colleague Zabihullah Tamanna were killed last Sunday while traveling with an Afghan army unit that came under fire in southern Helmand province, in a sign of just how dangerous the conflict remains for the media trying to cover it. But, six days after the tragic incident, new details emerged about the Taliban ambush on the vehicle the two journalists were traveling in. Colleagues of Gilkey and Tamanna who were traveling in a separate vehicle at the time of the attack said they think it was a pre-planned attack and the Taliban were already informed about their journey to Helmand. In an interview with TOLOnews, Gilkey's colleagues said that other vehicles were also on the same road, but the Taliban did not target them. "We waited for two hours for our friends David and Zabi. Because we thought they had a flat tire. We waited and we didn't receive information. Because no one could speak English. We were trying to communicate as best as we could," said one NPR journalist Monika Evstatieva who had been accompanying the two slain journalists in Helmand. "We were in the front car with the general and its rare to have the commanding officers in the front. He usually rides the second or third or the fourth car. So we wonder if they shot David and Zabi believing they were hitting the vehicle with the general in it," said Tom Boman another colleague of the slain journalists. The two NPR staffers said the incident happened after they left a military camp and were on their way to Marjah district. The group of four journalists were traveling in Humvees. The two surviving journalist were with an Afghan army general in the lead vehicle, the second vehicle was carrying Afghan security forces while the third was carrying Tamanna and his American colleague. "When you step back and look how this happened it is very suspicious that suddenly we drive into an ambush when all those military vehicles were on the road and they were never shooting it down. It was only when we arrived that they opened fire," he said. After the attack, the car carrying the two surviving journalists returned to the military camp while the other vehicles stayed in the area. Despite the tragic demise of their colleagues, Bowman and Evstatieva are committed to continuing their work in Afghanistan. They said the attack will not deter their work and they will come back to Afghanistan. Video report at the link |
| Posted by:badanov |