Volker Handloik (19 July 1961 – 11 November 2001) was a German freelance journalist and reporter. Born in

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, he worked for the Hamburg-based ''

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'' for 10 years and also did some correspondence for newspapers, journals, and magazines such as the '' Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'', ''

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. History ...

'', ''

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'', ''

Berliner Zeitung The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (, ''Berlin Newspaper'') is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since reunification. It is published by Berliner ...

'', ''

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'', ''

'', '' Focus'', ''

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'', ''

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'', '' Merian'', and the '' Spiegel Reporter''.A NATION CHALLENGED: THE NEWS MEDIA; Two French Radio Journalists and a German Are Killed in Taliban Ambush of a Rebel Force
''

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'', November 13, 2001 Handloik, who spoke Russian and Spanish fluently often traveled to the former Soviet republics and to South America and had been working in northern Afghanistan since October 2001.

Death

Handloik, along with

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

journalists Johanne Sutton and Pierre Billaud, was killed in an ambush in Dasht-e Qaleh, Takhar Province,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

on 11 November 2001. The trio were travelling on a Northern Alliance armoured personnel carrier when they came under attack by

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

troops with

machine guns A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Australian journalist Paul McGeough and French journalist Véronique Reyberotte survived the attack. According to McGeough, Handloik died instantly from a bullet wound to the head.

Reaction

After learning of Handloik's death, ''Sterns chief editor Thomas Osterkorn remarked

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Handloik, Volker 1961 births 2001 deaths People from Rostock People from Bezirk Rostock German male journalists German war correspondents German male writers Writers from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Journalists killed while covering the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) 20th-century German journalists

Death

Reaction

See also

References