NPR photographer, interpreter killed in Afghanistan

While on assignment in Afghanistan on Sunday, an NPR photojournalist and interpreter were killed when the army unit they were traveling with came under attack.

Photographer David Gilkey, 50, and Afghan interpreter Zabihullah Tamanna, 38, are being remembered as outstanding journalists. Michael Oreskes, NPR's vice president for news, wrote in an email to staff that Gilkey "brought out the humanity of all those around him," and NPR's Phillip Reeves said Tamanna had a "great eye for a story and deep wisdom about his country."

Tamanna once worked as a photojournalist for the Chinese news agency Xinhua and as a writer for Turkey's Anadolu News Agency. Gilkey received an Emmy in 2007, a George Polk Award in 2010, and accolades from the White House News Photographers Association. He covered the end of apartheid in South Africa, the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti. After the quake, Gilkey told NPR: "It's not just reporting. It's not just taking pictures. It's do these visuals, do these stories, do they change somebody's mind enough to take action?"

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