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

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, he worked for the Hamburg-based ''

Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

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

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

'', ''

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

'', ''

taz Taz or TAZ may refer to: Geography *Taz (river), a river in western Siberia, Russia *Taz Estuary, the estuary of the river Taz in Russia People * Taz people, an ethnic group in Russia ** Taz language, a form of Northeastern Mandarin spoken by ...

'', ''

Berliner Zeitung The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (; ) 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 of Germany, reunification. It is published by Berl ...

'', ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'', ''

Focus Focus (: foci or focuses) may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in East Australia Film *Focus (2001 film), ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based on the Arthur Miller novel *Focus (2015 ...

'', ''

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more th ...

'', ''

Geo Geo- is a prefix derived from the Greek word ''γη'' or ''γαια'', meaning "earth", usually in the sense of "ground or land”. GEO or Geo may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''GEO'' (magazine), a popular scientific magazi ...

'', ''

Merian Merian may refer to People with the surname * Merian family, Swiss patrician family from Basel * Matthäus Merian the Elder (1593–1650), Swiss-German engraver and publisher * Matthäus Merian the Younger (1621–1687), Swiss painter * Maria Siby ...

'', 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
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 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 may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

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

Takhar Province Takhar (Dari/Pashto: ) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeast of the country next to Tajikistan. It is surrounded by Badakhshan in the east, Panjshir in the south, and Baghlan and Kunduz in the west. The ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

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

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

troops with machine guns and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Australian journalist

Paul McGeough Paul McGeough is an Irish Australian journalist and senior foreign correspondent for ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. In 2001, when covering events in Afghanistan with the Northern Alliance, he and French journalist Véronique Reyberotte survived ...

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