Mother and father of Reuters photographer killed in Afghanistan begin authorized motion in opposition to Taliban By Reuters

NEW DELHI (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 Prison Courtroom (ICC) in opposition to the Islamist group, a lawyer for the household mentioned on Tuesday.

Siddiqui, a Pulitzer Prize winner, was embedded with Afghan particular forces when 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.

New Delhi-based lawyer Avi Singh instructed 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.

Two Taliban spokesmen didn’t reply to calls and messages from Reuters looking for remark.

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

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

“These acts and this killing constitutes not solely a homicide, however a criminal offense in opposition to humanity and a battle crime.”

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

The Taliban denied that they captured and executed Siddiqui.

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

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

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