Family of killed photojournalist Danish Siddiqui take Taliban leaders to ICC

The family of Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who was killed last year in Afghanistan, filed a formal complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday to investigate his killing and bring to trial the Taliban's leadership for "committing war crimes."

The 38-year-old Reuters journalist was killed during an ambush by the group last July while embedded with the Afghan security forces, in a battle for control of the Spin Boldak near the Pakistan border.

Siddiqui's family have taken a case to the ICC against six Taliban leaders. They allege that the Taliban took Siddiqui into custody, and then tortured and killed him before mutilating his body.

"Danish, our loving son, was murdered by the Taliban for simply carrying out his journalistic duties," Siddiqui's mother Shahida Akhtar, said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Thomson Reuters said they were "deeply saddened" by the loss of Siddiqui, who they called "an outstanding journalist and a much-loved colleague".

Last August, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied reports that Siddiqui was captured and executed, calling the claims by Afghan security forces and Indian government officials "completely wrong".

Siddiqui worked with Reuters for over a decade. He won the the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in feature photography for joint work with six others which documented Myanmar's minority Rohingya community. He also won plaudits for his photographs showing the effects of India's second wave of coronavirus.

He was in Afghanistan's Kandahar region covering clashes as the U.S. and its allies withdrew their troops ahead of a Sept. 11 deadline last year.

Professor Akhtar Siddiqui, Danish Siddiqui's father said: "While our son will not come back, our petition will ease grief in the hope that someday justice will be done".

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