US Army photographer's shot shows her final moments

An image captured by a war photographer of the explosion in which she died has been released by the US Army.

Hilda Clayton, 22, of August, Georgia, died in Laghman province while taking part in a live-fire training exercise in Afghanistan on 2 July 2013. Four Afghan soldiers also died in the accidental mortar blast, one of them a photojournalist with whom Clayton had been partnered for training purposes, The Guardian reports.

Clayton's final image, published with her family's permission in Military Review magazine, shows the mortar exploding. It features in a story on gender equality in the US Army.

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Her death "symbolises how female soldiers are increasingly exposed to hazardous situations in training and in combat on par with their male counterparts", Military Review says.

"Not only did Clayton help document activities aimed at shaping and strengthening the partnership but she also shared in the risk by participating in the effort."

Clayton was a member of the 55th Signal Company, known as "Combat Camera", and had been assigned to capture the training of Afghan National Army soldiers by US advisers, CBS News reports.

Combat Camera has created an annual award for combat photography in her name. The Specialist Hilda I Clayton Best Combat Camera competition will see teams of two spending a week competing to test their tactical and technical skills, says Newsweek.