UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has condemned the killing of Indian reporter Danish Siddiqui in Afghanistan on 16 July.
I condemn the killing of Danish Siddiqui. Reporters play a vital role in shedding light on the challenges facing societies, including armed conflicts. In such situations, it is incumbent on all sides to respect the civilian status of media workers and to protect their safety.
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO
Siddiqui, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for his reporting on the Rohingya refugee crisis, was killed on 16 July in Kandahar, while reporting for Reuters News Agency on clashes between the Afghan Special Forces he was accompanying and Taliban forces.
This is the sixth instance of a journalist killing in Afghanistan to be denounced by UNESCO since the start of 2021.
UNESCO promotes the safety of journalists through global awareness-raising, capacity building and a range of actions, notably in the framework of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.
- See also: UNESCO observatory of killed journalists
