#OutlookMagazine Anniversary Issue | Caught In Crossfire - video Dailymotion

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Altaf Qadri, a photojournalist, shares his harrowing experience covering the Libyan revolution, emphasising the risks journalists take to unveil realities. Listen to the audio excerpts from the latest issue of Outlook - We Bear Witness - only by Pragya Vats.  Read the article: https://www.outlookindia.com/international/caught-in-the-crossfire-magazine-339192  #PhotoJournalism #Photo #PhotoJournalists #Journalists #War #Gaza #Libya #LibiyanWar #WarOnGaza #GazaGenocide #IReadOutlook #ReturnToReading

Transcript

00:00 I am Pragya and I bring to you excerpts from the year-ender issue titled "We Bear Witness".

00:06 The issue is dedicated to the people of Gaza and what they went through.

00:10 Caught in Crossfire by Altaf Qadri, a photojournalist and visual storyteller.

00:17 In 2011, I was covering the Libyan revolution for Associated Press,

00:23 where the Libyan rebels, with the help of NATO forces, fought to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi's government.

00:30 I crossed into Libya through the Egyptian land port of Saloum,

00:34 the main border point between Egypt and Libya.

00:38 I spent the first night in Tobruk, a small coastal town in eastern Libya,

00:43 before heading towards Benghazi.

00:45 This was one of the best routes for foreign journalists to reach Benghazi,

00:49 as it was under the control of journalist-friendly rebels.

00:53 The rebels primarily comprised civilians such as teachers, students, lawyers,

01:00 businessmen and oil workers, and a contingent of professional soldiers

01:05 who had defected from the Libyan army to join the rebels.

01:08 It was Saturday morning, April 9, 2011, when I, along with other AP journalists,

01:16 finished our breakfast and were about to leap for the volatile front line between Brega and Ajdabiya,

01:23 some 140 km from Benghazi, where we were based.

01:27 Our routine was to head to the front line in the morning,

01:30 file from Ajdabiya, and then head back to Benghazi by evening.

01:34 I was travelling in one car and my colleagues were travelling in another.

01:39 It was a pretty long drive from Benghazi that would take an hour and a half to reach the front line

01:45 as we drove along the coastal highway,

01:47 which was dotted with the remains of tanks and other military vehicles.

01:52 It was around 9 am when we reached the town of Ajdabiya,

01:56 the last Libyan town held by the rebels in the east, some 80 km before the front line.

02:03 We crossed one of the many checkpoints manned by the rebels on the way to the front line,

02:09 which was at a gas station and a mosque that marked the halfway point

02:14 between the Libyan town of Brega and Ajdabiya.

02:18 I had told Ben, my photo colleague, that if any one of us gets a chance to go further towards the front line,

02:24 towards Brega, we should, and others could then move up with the cars.

02:29 Ben asked me to let him know before I go ahead.

02:32 We both agreed on this arrangement.

02:35 Meanwhile, a rebel pickup truck came zooming from the front line,

02:40 carrying a wounded Gaddafi loyalist, whom the rebel forces had captured during the fight.

02:46 We started taking pictures of the captured soldier.

02:49 For this and more, read the year-ender issue of Outlook.

#OutlookMagazine Anniversary Issue | Caught In Crossfire

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