BBC Journalist Ahmed Omed Khpulwak Killed By U.S. Forces In Afghanistan

High_Gravity

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Nov 19, 2010
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BBC Journalist Ahmed Omed Khpulwak Killed By U.S. Forces In Afghanistan

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NATO has admitted that a U.S. soldier shot a BBC journalist to death in July.

The Guardian was the first to report the news that Ahmed Omed Khpulwak was killed by an American. Khpulwak was one of at least 19 people to die during a fight that erupted between the Taliban and American forces after the Taliban attacked an Afghan television station.

NATO said that the death was accidental, and military officials met with his family on Thursday to apologize for the "mistake." Khpulwak had worked as a stringer for the BBC since 2008. He also worked for an Afghan news service.

The official report from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said that Khpulwak, 25, had died because of "mistaken identity." He was hiding from the fight when, according to ISAF, a soldier mistook him for a surviving Taliban fighter and took his movements as a sign that he was a suicide bomber.

Khpulwak's brother, Jawid, spoke to the Guardian after NATO's admission.

"They thought he was a suicide bomber, but how?" he said. "He spoke English and would have been showing his press card."

The BBC reported that Khpulwak sent Jawid two text messages during the attack. The first read: "I am hiding. Death has come." The second read: "pray for me if I die."

It was initially reported that Khpulwak had been killed by the Taliban. However, the BBC asked NATO to investigate the circumstances of his death. In late August, the Kabul-based Afghanistan Analysts Network issued a report that suggested that there was strong evidence of a U.S. hand in his death.

Khpulwak's family told the AAN that they were initially suspicious when they found his body in the aftermath of the battle. The Taliban had set off a suicide bomb, but Jawid said that, in contrast to other heavily mutilated and disfigured bodies at the site, his body was "intact, clean, whole. All he had was gun-shot wounds and bleeding. When we washed him, we could see the gunshot wounds. There were more than eleven."

BBC Journalist Ahmed Omed Khpulwak Killed By U.S. Forces In Afghanistan
 
So sad to learn about this thing, BBC writer Ahmed Omed Khpulwak, 25, was among a minimum of nineteen people who perished during a strike in Afghanistan in July. Thurs NATO admitted that the reporter was really murdered by a US soldier. The soldier mistook Khpulwak for a terrorist. Article source: NATO admits BBC journalist was accidentally killed by US soldier.

I agree is is concerning. The OP article says
"They thought he was a suicide bomber, but how?" he said. "He spoke English and would have been showing his press card."
BBC Journalist Ahmed Omed Khpulwak Killed By U.S. Forces In Afghanistan

It is not the first time we have lost a journalist to the US
An ITN journalist was unlawfully killed by American soldiers in southern Iraq, an inquest has found.

The troops shot 50-year-old Terry Lloyd in the head while he was in a makeshift ambulance, having already been hurt in crossfire, the coroner said.

Mr Lloyd's interpreter was also killed and his cameraman is missing believed dead following the incident, which took place near Basra in March 2003.

BBC NEWS | UK | Iraq reporter unlawfully killed
 
Unless you've been in that situation, you have no fucking clue how easy it is for this to happen. It is the risk that journalists take. Don't want the risk? Stay out. Not rocket science.
 
Unless you've been in that situation, you have no fucking clue how easy it is for this to happen. It is the risk that journalists take. Don't want the risk? Stay out. Not rocket science.

Well that may be your view on it but in the case of Terry Lloyd it was certainly seen as a war crime though it took several years of hard work to get this decision.

To you it may be fine for US soldiers to be trigger happily shooting British journalists in ambulances but to me it is not and while journalists are indeed exceedingly brave working to bring us the truth, that does not give anyone the right to needlessly kill them or to show disrespect for human life.
 
Unless you've been in that situation, you have no fucking clue how easy it is for this to happen. It is the risk that journalists take. Don't want the risk? Stay out. Not rocket science.

Well that may be your view on it but in the case of Terry Lloyd it was certainly seen as a war crime though it took several years of hard work to get this decision.

To you it may be fine for US soldiers to be trigger happily shooting British journalists in ambulances but to me it is not and while journalists are indeed exceedingly brave working to bring us the truth, that does not give anyone the right to needlessly kill them or to show disrespect for human life.

More overly emotional, hysteria. How dull.
 
So sad to learn about this thing, BBC writer Ahmed Omed Khpulwak, 25, was among a minimum of nineteen people who perished during a strike in Afghanistan in July. Thurs NATO admitted that the reporter was really murdered by a US soldier. The soldier mistook Khpulwak for a terrorist. Article source: NATO admits BBC journalist was accidentally killed by US soldier.

I agree is is concerning. The OP article says
"They thought he was a suicide bomber, but how?" he said. "He spoke English and would have been showing his press card."
BBC Journalist Ahmed Omed Khpulwak Killed By U.S. Forces In Afghanistan

It is not the first time we have lost a journalist to the US
An ITN journalist was unlawfully killed by American soldiers in southern Iraq, an inquest has found.

The troops shot 50-year-old Terry Lloyd in the head while he was in a makeshift ambulance, having already been hurt in crossfire, the coroner said.

Mr Lloyd's interpreter was also killed and his cameraman is missing believed dead following the incident, which took place near Basra in March 2003.

BBC NEWS | UK | Iraq reporter unlawfully killed

Are you saying suicide bombers don't speak English and can't pass themselves off as reporters? don't forget Ahmad Shah Masoud of the Northern Alliance was murdered by 2 suicide bombers who disguised themselves as Belgian journalists.:doubt:
 

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