In October, a tragic event shocked the news world when a Reuters journalist was killed by Israeli tanks during an attack in Afghanistan. The attack involved a tank shelling that killed the journalist as well as four other civilians. According to recent investigations, the shells were shot from Israeli tanks that were part of a mission in the province of Helmand.
Given the simmering tensions between Afghanistan and Israel, many have questioned if the tanks went too far and caused an unintentionally fatal incident. This is what the investigations, which were conducted by the Afghanistan Human Rights Commission, aimed to determine.
The investigation concluded that the shells were fired from an Israeli tank stationed at a base close to the journalist’s location. The tanks were located in a region Afghanistan’s security forces were attempting to reclaim from insurgents, which indicates why the attacks were conducted. While the investigators determined that the attack was carried out in “good faith”, it was ultimately concluded that the attack was unwarranted and legally unjustified in killing the journalist and other civilians.
This news is especially saddening for Reuters and the international community, as a journalist representing a news organization was killed in a conflict. It’s the hope of professional journalists and international organizations that this type of incident will not happen again, and that information is gathered and reported accurately in order to increase international understanding of conflicts.