Kabul attack pics: Pulitzer-winning photographer was among trapped

Kabul, Aug 25: A Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer was also trapped among hundreds of students in the American University here where a terror attack took place on Wednesday (Aug 24). Massoud Hossaini, 34, said he was shot at by a person wearing 'normal clothes' while he tried to see what was going outside through a window.

Fifteen students were with Hossaini, the Associated Press photographer who studies political science at the university, when they first heard the explosion on the southern side of the institution's campus.

"I asked my classmates to lie on the ground, and I ran to the other side, to the south side, to see what is going on," ABC News quoted Hossaini as saying .

He remembered that moment when he and his colleagues understood they could not escape and tried to put up a defence by pushing chairs and desks against the door of the classroom where they were, ABC News said.

Hossaini, who won the Pulitzer Price in 2012 in Breaking News Photography for taking the image of a horrified 12-year-old girl in the wake of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, had tweeted about his ordeal, even saying it could be his last. Later, he deleted the tweets.

Thirty-four-year-old Hossaini had won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography for capturing the image of a terrified 12-year-old Tarana Akbari in an aftermath of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul.

On Wednesday, Hossaini was caught in an attack himself. He had tweeted out his ordeal saying that he was stuck at the University along with other students amid the explosion and gunfire. He also wrote that this might be his last tweet. Later, he deleted the tweets from his account.

Attack at American University

An Afghan policeman holds a rocket-propelled grenade launcher at the site of a complex Taliban attack on the campus of the American University in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. University President Mark English told The Associated Press that security forces had arrived on the scene soon after the attack began around 7 pm. AP/PTI

Attack at American University

Military vehicles guard after an attack on the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. The attack has ended, a senior police officer said Thursday, after several people were killed. Kabul police Chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said the dead included one guard, and that about 700 students had been rescued. AP/PTI

Attack at American University

Afghan security forces inspect the site after an attack on the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. The attack has ended, a senior police officer said Thursday, after several people were killed. Kabul police Chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said the dead included one guard, and that about 700 students had been rescued. AP/PTI

Attack at American University

Afghan security forces rush to respond to a complex Taliban attack on the campus of the American University in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. “We are trying to assess the situation,” President Mark English told The Associated Press. AP/PTI

Attack at American University

Military vehicles guard after an attack on the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. The attack has ended, a senior police officer said Thursday, after several people were killed. Kabul police Chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said the dead included one guard, and that about 700 students had been rescued. AP/PTI

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