Politics dpa photographer Alkharboutli killed in Syria

The dpa photographer Anas Alkharboutli has been killed in the renewed fighting in Syria. The 32-year-old photojournalist was killed in an airstrike while working near the Syrian city of Hama, as confirmed by other reporters from the war zone as eyewitnesses. In recent days, Alkharboutli had been reporting on the advance of the rebel alliance Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

Alkharboutli studied engineering at the University of Damascus. He began working as a photojournalist in 2015 and joined dpa in 2017. He quickly made a name for himself with his photos and videos from the Syrian civil war.

His photography has received numerous international awards. In 2020, he received the Young Reporter Trophy of the prestigious French Prix Bayeux for war reporting. At the 2021 Sony World Photography Awards, he won the Sports category with an impressive series of images of children training in karate.

dpa Editor-in-Chief Sven Gösmann said: "All of us at dpa are in shock and infinitely saddened by the death of Anas Alkharboutli. His journalistic legacy is an obligation to us. With his pictures, he not only documented the horrors of war, he always worked for the truth."

SDA