Contrary to the belief that Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed in a Taliban crossfire in Afghanistan, the latest disclosure by a US-based magazine suggests that he was “brutally murdered” by the terrorist group after verifying his identity.
According to the Washington Examiner report, Danish Siddiqui was neither killed in a crossfire in Afghanistan, nor he was collateral damage, however, he was killed by the Taliban, who shot him dead after verifying his identity.
“Siddiqui was alive when the Taliban captured him. The Taliban verified Siddiqui’s identity and then executed him, as well as those with him. The commander and the remainder of his team died as they tried to rescue him,” the report said.
Danish Siddiqui, who was on an assignment in the war-torn country, travelled with the Afghan National Forces to the Spin Boldak region to cover the clashes between Afghan forces and the Taliban.
A report by PTI said that the Taliban attacked the Afghan forces when they reached a customs post. The Afghan forces split up, leaving Siddiqui with three other Afghan troops.
During this attack, Siddiqui and Afghan forces were hit by shrapnel, who escaped to a local mosque where they received first aid. Soon, the Taliban got to know that the Indian journalist was taking refuge inside the mosque. The local investigation suggests the Taliban attacked the mosque only because of Siddiqui’s presence there, the report said.
“While a widely circulated public photograph shows Siddiqui’s face recognizable, I reviewed other photographs and a video of Siddiqui’s body provided to me by a source in the Indian government that show the Taliban beat Siddiqui around the head and then riddled his body with bullets,” said writer Micheal Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
“The Taliban’s decision to brutally execute Danish Siddiqui and then mutilate his corpse has shown that they do not respect the rules of war or conventions that govern the behaviour of the global community”, the report said.
The report had expressed surprise at the mention of Danish’ death by the US State Department as a mere accident.
Taliban killed Danish Siddiqui, mutilated his body and drove a car on him
Earlier too, it was reported that the Taliban had mutilated the body of a fellow Muslim Danish Siddiqui simply because he was an Indian. Afghan Army Commander Bilal Ahmed had disclosed that the Taliban first shot Danish then ran a car over him after they got to know he is Indian since the Taliban hates India and Indians.
The Taliban had mowed down the car on Danish even after shooting him, displaying their hatred for Indians. The revelations by the Afghan commander had come at a time when certain sections of the “liberal-secular” media in the country were absolving the crimes of the terrorist group by claiming that the Muslim photojournalist was killed during a crossfire.
However, the latest disclosures regarding the manner in which Danish Siddiqui was killed has now put all other conspiracy theories to rest.
Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who shot to fame with his morbid images of burning funeral pyres in India, was killed while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban terrorists near a border crossing with Pakistan in Spin Boldak.
