British photojournalist Giles Duley, who was seriously injured by a roadside bomb, on 7 February, while embedded with US and Afghan troops in Kandahar, Afghanistan, returned to England on 13 February for further medical treatment.

The 39-year-old photojournalist, who specialized in humanitarian issues and cooperated with various charity organizations, had to undergo multiple amputations at the local UN Hospital in Kandahar as a consequence of the injuries caused by the explosion.

Giles Duley’s brother, David, was reported as saying that Giles had lost one leg below the knee and another above the knee, and his left arm had to be amputated above the elbow. He is currently being treated at Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham.

“This incident highlights the dangers that still exist for journalists reporting from Afghanistan and the importance of specific safety-awareness training and equipment for journalists who report from dangerous environments,” said IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills.

According to IPI data, a total of 13 journalists have lost their lives while reporting from Afghanistan in the past five years.

Two of the three journalists killed in Afghanistan in 2010 – US American journalist James P. Hunter with the Fort Campbell Courier and British journalist Rupert Hamer with the Sunday Mirror – died as a consequence of roadside explosive devices. Sunday Mirror photographer Philip Coburn was wounded in the same incident that killed Hamer.