An attack on two Western female journalists has left one of them dead and the other critically wounded in eastern Afghanistan, one day ahead of presidential and legislative elections that Taliban militants have vowed to disrupt.
Award-winning German news photographer Anja Niedringhaus was shot dead and her Canadian colleague Kathy Gannon was seriously wounded by an Afghan police officer.
The two journalists, working for AP, were in Khost Province, in a remote small town on Afghanistan's border with Pakistan when the incident took place early on April 4.
Mubarez Zadran, a spokesman for the Khost governor, said the suspected attacker, a junior commander in the Afghan National Police (ANP), was apprehended at the scene.
"The officer that attacked the journalist has been arrested and he is currently under investigation," the spokesman said. "He was identified as Naqibullah, a young man from the Afghan police. We are trying to learn the possible motives behind the attack, but we cannot disclose much information now. Once the investigation is completed, we will share more details with the media."
Zadran said Gannon's life was out of danger.
"According to the information that I have just got from the hospital [to which Gannon was admitted], fortunately, I can tell you that her operation was successful and she is out of risk and concern."
Witnesses said the two journalists were traveling in a convoy delivering election ballots. The convoy was guarded by the Afghan Army and police.
When the convoy reportedly halted and the two journalists were sitting in their vehicle, the attacker approached them and opened fire, before surrendering to the police.
Niedringhaus, 48, was part of a team of 11 AP photographers that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Iraq War.
She had been injured in other high-risk assignments -- including being hit by a sniper's bullet on her first day in Sarajevo and getting blown out of a car in Albania, according to a biography on thelocal.de.
Gannon, 60, had been covering war and unrest in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as events in Iran for three decades.
Speaking from New York, AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll confirmed the attack, adding, "We are heartbroken at the loss."
Other journalists have been attacked in recent weeks as Afghanistan prepares to conduct presidential elections on April 5.
French news agency AFP's senior Afghan reporter Sardar Ahmad, his wife, and two of his three children were killed on March 20 when gunmen attacked a Kabul hotel.
Swedish journalist Nils Horner was shot dead in Kabul on March 11.
Last month, a prominent Afghan journalist and eight other people were killed by Taliban gunmen in Kabul.
Award-winning German news photographer Anja Niedringhaus was shot dead and her Canadian colleague Kathy Gannon was seriously wounded by an Afghan police officer.
The two journalists, working for AP, were in Khost Province, in a remote small town on Afghanistan's border with Pakistan when the incident took place early on April 4.
Mubarez Zadran, a spokesman for the Khost governor, said the suspected attacker, a junior commander in the Afghan National Police (ANP), was apprehended at the scene.
"The officer that attacked the journalist has been arrested and he is currently under investigation," the spokesman said. "He was identified as Naqibullah, a young man from the Afghan police. We are trying to learn the possible motives behind the attack, but we cannot disclose much information now. Once the investigation is completed, we will share more details with the media."
Zadran said Gannon's life was out of danger.
"According to the information that I have just got from the hospital [to which Gannon was admitted], fortunately, I can tell you that her operation was successful and she is out of risk and concern."
Witnesses said the two journalists were traveling in a convoy delivering election ballots. The convoy was guarded by the Afghan Army and police.
When the convoy reportedly halted and the two journalists were sitting in their vehicle, the attacker approached them and opened fire, before surrendering to the police.
Niedringhaus, 48, was part of a team of 11 AP photographers that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Iraq War.
She had been injured in other high-risk assignments -- including being hit by a sniper's bullet on her first day in Sarajevo and getting blown out of a car in Albania, according to a biography on thelocal.de.
Gannon, 60, had been covering war and unrest in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as events in Iran for three decades.
Speaking from New York, AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll confirmed the attack, adding, "We are heartbroken at the loss."
Other journalists have been attacked in recent weeks as Afghanistan prepares to conduct presidential elections on April 5.
French news agency AFP's senior Afghan reporter Sardar Ahmad, his wife, and two of his three children were killed on March 20 when gunmen attacked a Kabul hotel.
Swedish journalist Nils Horner was shot dead in Kabul on March 11.
Last month, a prominent Afghan journalist and eight other people were killed by Taliban gunmen in Kabul.