An Ongoing Funeral: Anja Niedringhaus

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Anja Niedringhaus, killed today in Afghanistan in their car. Source

I always thought they were invincible, reporters- whether writer, photographers, videographers, you name it - I thought they were the untouchables, the proteges.. "Never kill the messenger", a quality the ancient ethics of peace and war used to abide by, yet apparently not anymore. A 48yr-old world renowned German photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus was shot today and was killed instantly, all while her companion, Canadian reporter Kathy Gannon was wounded and is stable condition at the moment.


Kathy Gannon, AP Special Regional Correspondent for Afghanistan and Pakistan, wounded at the same incident. Source

AP had stated the following:
A veteran Associated Press photographer was killed and an AP reporter was wounded on Friday when an Afghan policeman opened fire while they were sitting in their car in eastern Afghanistan.
The author's emotionlessness is nothing but an image of the grave traumatic news that shook AP personnel this morning around the world.
"Sad day. no more needed to be said", as one of my foreign journalist friends had expressed in her Facebook status today, the latter that had led me to this gruesome news.

AP author continues:
As they were sitting in the car waiting for the convoy to move, a unit commander named Naqibullah walked up to the car, yelled "Allahu Akbar" — God is Great — and opened fire on them in the back seat with his AK-47. He then surrendered to the other police and was arrested. - Full article here
Here's some of what Wikipedia had to say about the renowned photographer, before adding that fresh line at the bottom stating she was killed on April 4th while covering the presidential elections:
She was the only woman on a team of 11 AP photographers that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Iraq War. That same year she was awarded the International Women's Media Foundation's Courage in Journalism prize.
Even though I had never met any of Anja or Kathy, well neither Laurent or any of the other deceased journalists and photographers around the globe, yet I can't but feel my heart cringing whenever a reporter is killed. Their lives are taken away only for doing what they love the best, their way of contributing to this life and paying back to humanity.

Here's some of Anja's work that I had given myself the permission to showcase a handful of here.
Check all her work on both her Website and her Facebook page.

A young girl in her colorful dress reaches out to greet a Pakistani policeman - Anja Niedringhaus
Afghan boys study in a makeshift school in the village of Budyali -  Anja Niedringhaus
"German soldier sits next to candles lit to celebrate his 34th birthday during a long term patrol in Yaftal El Sofia" - Anja Niedringhaus

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