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AFP journalist says marked press group was struck by tank fire near Lebanon-Israel border; Reuters videographer killed
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Summary
AFP video journalist Dylan Collins recounted being among seven journalists hit by two strikes on Oct. 13 near the southern Lebanon–Israel border; he said Reuters videographer Haysam Abdullah was killed and AFP photographer Christina Asi severely injured. Collins cited multiple independent investigations that concluded the strikes struck the press group.
Dylan Collins, a video journalist with Agence France-Presse, said Oct. 13 that he was among seven clearly marked journalists who were struck twice by tank fire near a southern Lebanon village close to the Israel border, leaving Reuters video journalist Haysam Abdullah dead and AFP photographer Christina Asi critically injured.
Collins said the group — reporters from AFP, Reuters and Al Jazeera — were wearing flak jackets and helmets and were broadcasting live when the first shell hit at about 6:02 p.m. "All 7 journalists were clearly marked as members of the press, and we were wearing flak jackets and helmets," he said. He added that audio analysis of his footage showed an Israeli drone circled the group at least 11 times in the 25 minutes before the strikes.
Independent investigations by AFP, Reuters, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Collins said, concluded that a 120-millimeter fin-stabilized tank shell struck colleagues and that the strikes came in two impacts seconds apart. Reuters additionally reported the same tank crew fired a .50-caliber weapon for nearly two minutes after the shells hit, according to Collins's account of those investigations. Collins also cited a UN peacekeeping (UNIFIL) investigation finding there had been no exchange of fire along the border for more than 40 minutes before the attack.
Collins described the scene after the first impact: he was blown back, heard Christina screaming, and applied tourniquets to stop severe bleeding. He said the second strike arrived about 37 seconds after the first and a few meters away; one colleague, identified in Collins's account as Arsam, was killed instantly in the first strike and five others were wounded in the second.
The testimony connected the Oct. 13 strike to a broader pattern: Collins noted a later double-tap attack that killed Al Mayadeen cameraman Rabi Mahamari and correspondent Farah Hamar. He said more than 100 journalists have been killed in Israeli strikes, the majority Palestinian journalists in Gaza, and urged use of the available evidence to pursue accountability.
No response or rebuttal from Israeli military authorities is recorded in the transcript provided. Collins framed his account around eyewitness observations and published investigations; he called for justice and for the evidence to be used in follow-up efforts.
The account in this article is drawn from Collins's on-record statements and the investigations he cited. Further developments would depend on official responses or subsequent investigative releases.
