Parents of Reuters photographer killed in Afghanistan start legal action against Taliban

NEW DELHI, March 22 (Reuters) – The dad and mom of Reuters photographer Danish Siddiqui, who was killed in a Taliban assault in Afghanistan final yr, have begun authorized motion on the Worldwide Felony Courtroom (ICC) in opposition to the Islamist group, a lawyer for the household stated on Tuesday.

Siddiqui, a Pulitzer Prize winner, was embedded with Afghan particular forces when he was killed on July 16 throughout a failed try by authorities troops to retake Spin Boldak, a city close to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, from the Taliban. learn extra

New Delhi-based lawyer Avi Singh informed a web-based information convention that Siddiqui’s dad and mom had been looking for authorized motion in opposition to six leaders and different unidentified commanders of the Taliban on the Hague-based ICC on the grounds that the group focused and killed their son as a result of he was a photojournalist and an Indian nationwide.

Siddiqui was primarily based in New Delhi and had travelled to Afghanistan to cowl the Taliban marketing campaign to retake the nation as the USA and its allies had been withdrawing their forces to finish their 20-year-long conflict there.

Siddiqui, 38, was “illegally detained, tortured and killed by the Taliban, and his physique was mutilated” Singh and his household stated in a press release issued earlier than the information convention.

“These acts and this killing constitutes not solely a homicide, however against the law in opposition to humanity and a conflict crime.”

A commander of Afghanistan’s erstwhile Particular Operations Corps that had hosted Siddiqui stated the photojournalist was mistakenly left behind with two commandos when troopers withdrew from Spin Boldak amid fierce preventing with the Taliban.

The Taliban denied that they captured and executed Siddiqui.

Afghan safety officers and Indian authorities officers had informed Reuters that, primarily based on images, intelligence and an examination of Siddiqui’s physique, his physique was mutilated whereas in Taliban custody after his dying.

In August, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied reviews that Siddiqui was captured and executed, rejecting the assertions of the Afghan safety forces and Indian authorities officers as “fully flawed”.

Reuters has beforehand reported that it “was unable to independently decide if the Taliban intentionally killed Siddiqui or desecrated his physique.”

Reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal; enhancing by Grant McCool, Robert Birsel

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.