iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
Hundreds of social workers and volunteers are working round the clock, providing essentials to those affected by the unprecedented rainfall
KT APPDOWNLOAD
Parents of Indian photographer killed in Afghanistan start legal action against Taliban
Siddiqui’s parents were seeking legal action against six leaders, and other unidentified commanders of the Taliban
File photo
The parents of Reuters photographer Danish Siddiqui, who was killed in a Taliban attack in Afghanistan last year, have begun legal action at the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the group, a lawyer for the family said on Tuesday.
Siddiqui, a Pulitzer Prize winner, was embedded with Afghan special forces when killed on July 16 during a failed attempt by government troops to retake Spin Boldak, a town near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, from the Taliban.
New Delhi-based lawyer Avi Singh told an online news conference that Siddiqui’s parents were seeking legal action against six leaders, and other unidentified commanders of the Taliban, at the Hague-based ICC on the grounds that the group targeted and killed their son because he was a photojournalist and an Indian national.
Two Taliban spokesmen did not respond to calls and messages from Reuters seeking comment.
Siddiqui was based in New Delhi and had travelled to Afghanistan to cover the Taliban campaign to retake the country as the United States and its allies were withdrawing forces to end their 20-year-long war there.
Siddiqui, 38, was “illegally detained, tortured and killed by the Taliban, and his body was mutilated”, Singh and his family said in a statement issued before the news conference.
ALSO READ:
“These acts and this killing constitute not only a murder, but a crime against humanity and a war crime.”
A commander of Afghanistan’s erstwhile Special Operations Corps that had hosted Siddiqui said the photojournalist was mistakenly left behind with two commandos when soldiers withdrew from Spin Boldak amid fierce fighting with the Taliban.
The Taliban denied that they captured and executed Siddiqui.
Reuters said Siddiqui was a valued colleague.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague Danish Siddiqui. Danish was an outstanding journalist and a much-loved colleague. We are continuing to honour his memory,” said a spokesperson for Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters News.
Afghan security officials and Indian government officials had told Reuters that, based on photos, intelligence and an examination of Siddiqui’s body, his body was mutilated while in Taliban custody after his death.
In August, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied reports that Siddiqui was captured and executed, rejecting the assertions of the Afghan security forces and Indian government officials as “completely wrong”.
Reuters has previously reported that it “was unable to independently determine if the Taliban deliberately killed Siddiqui or desecrated his body”.
More news from
The floodwaters spared nothing, soaking their furniture, rendering household appliances useless, and destroying the newly-purchased school books
Second-placed Liverpool remain three points behind Arsenal, who have a vastly superior goal difference
The in-form Italian will move to within 330points of World No 1 Djokovic if he wins his fourth trophy of 2024 at the Madrid Open
The King, 88, had undergone gallbladder surgery in 2020
Delhi posted 224-4 courtesy of a 113-run stand between Pant (88) and fellow left-hander Axar Patel, who hit 66
The move is seen as part of Ukraine's efforts to reinforce its army as soldiers struggle to hold positions against Russia
The Jamaican currently holds world records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m with times of 9.58s, 19.19s and 36.84s respectively
