AP Photographer Anja Niedringhaus was shot in her car by a rogue police officer in Afghanistan

Shock attack in heavily guarded compound near Khost city kills Associated Press photographer

The German photographer had been covering the Afghan general election

Reporter, Kathy Gannon, was also wounded in the attack
Policeman yelled 'Allahu Akbar' - God is Great - before opening fire on the pair in the back of a car with an AK-47
AP executive editor say Niedringhaus was 'vibrant, dynamic, well-loved'
Niedringhaus becomes the 26th journalist killed in Afghanistan since 2001 - and the third in the past month

Anja Niedringhaus, right, and Kathy Gannon worked together to cover the lead-up to the Afghan general election

According to the freelancer, they had arrived in the heavily guarded district compound shortly before the incident. As they were sitting in the car waiting for the convoy to move, a unit commander named Naqibullah walked up to the car, yelled “Allahu Akbar” — God is Great — and opened fire on them in the back seat with his AK-47, the freelancer said. He then surrendered to the other police and was arrested. Medical officials in Khost confirmed that Niedringhaus died.

Kathy Gannon, an AP correspondent who for many years was the news organization’s Afghanistan bureau chief and currently is a special correspondent for the region, was shot twice and later underwent surgery. She was described as being in stable condition and talking to medical personnel.

“Anja and Kathy together have spent years in Afghanistan covering the conflict and the people there. Anja was a vibrant, dynamic journalist well-loved for her insightful photographs, her warm heart and joy for life. We are heartbroken at her loss,” said AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll, speaking in New York.

In a memo to AP staff, AP President Gary Pruitt remembered Niedringhaus as “spirited, intrepid and fearless, with a raucous laugh that we will always remember.”

“Anja is the 32nd AP staffer to give their life in pursuit of the news since AP was founded in 1846,” he wrote. “This is a profession of the brave and the passionate, those committed to the mission of bringing to the world information that is fair, accurate and important. Anja Niedringhaus met that definition in every way.”

Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed his deep sadness over Niedringhaus’ death and the wounding of Gannon.

“These two AP journalists had gone to Khost province to prepare reports about the presidential and provincial council elections,” a statement from Karzai’s office quoted him as saying. It added that Karzai instructed the interior minister and the Khost governor to assist the AP in every way possible.

Niedringhaus covered conflict zones including Kuwait, Iraq, Libya, Gaza and the West Bank during a 20-year stretch, beginning with the Balkans in the 1990s. She had traveled to Afghanistan numerous times since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

Niedringhaus, who also covered sports events around the globe, received numerous awards for her works.

She was part of an AP team that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news photography for coverage of the war in Iraq, and was awarded the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation. She joined the AP in 2002 and had since been based in Geneva, Switzerland. From 2006 to 2007, she was awarded a Nieman Fellowship in journalism at Harvard University.

Niedringhaus started her career as a freelance photographer for a local newspaper in her hometown in Hoexter, Germany at the age of 16. She worked for the European Press Photo Agency before joining the AP in 2002, based in Geneva. She had published two books.

The heartbreaking final pictures from German photographer Anja Niedringhaus on her last assignment - days before she was shot dead by an Afghan policeman