Two French radio journalists were killed Sunday when the convoy they were travelling with was ambushed in northeastern Afghanistan, Radio France Internationale (RFI) and RTL radio have announced. A German journalist for Stern magazine also was killed, his publication said.
Johanne Sutton, an RFI journalist, and Pierre Billaud, a correspondent for RTL, were riding with French and other foreign journalists when their convoy of armed vehicles and trucks was ambushed after leaving the northern alliance's military headquarters in Khoja Bahauddin, in Takhar Province, near the Tajikistan.
In Berlin, a spokesman for Stern news magazine, Frank Pluemer, said that a reporter for the publication also was killed in the ambush. His identity was not immediately made public.
There were unconfirmed reports of injuries among those traveling in the convoy. Sutton and Billaud were believed to be the first foreign journalists killed in Afghanistan since the war began last month.
Gilles Schneider of RFI said yesterday that the men died at about 3:30pm local time on Sunday. Sutton was in Chatakai, between Taloqan and Kunduz, advancing with alliance troops towards Takhar.
After RFI confirmed Sutton's death, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in a statement expressed "very great sadness" at the loss.
Opposition forces say they have captured Taloqan, the capital of Takhar Province and their former headquarters. The Taliban denied the city had fallen.
RSS