Timeline: Press casualties in Afghanistan

Since the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001, 28 journalists have been killed while on the job, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The deadliest year of the war for journalists was 2001, when nine were slain.  Three journalists were killed in the country in 2014, up from 0 in 2013 and 1 in 2012. Of those three deaths, one was linked to the upcoming Afghan elections. Below is a slideshow of some of the men and women who died while covering the conflict:

In this April 7, 2005 file photo, Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus poses in Rome. Photo credit: AP Photo/Peter Dejong.

Anja Niedringhaus, April 2014. Niedringhaus, a German photographer for the Associated Press, was killed April 4 2014, by an Afghan police lieutenant in the eastern Khost province. Niedringhaus was cover the upcoming election along with Associated Press reporter Kathy Gannon. The attack occurred as the two women waited outside the police compound in their vehicle. Gannon survived her injuries and is recovering outside of Afghanistan. Previously, Niedringhaus received a Pulitzer Prize for her work as part of a team covering the Iraq War.

Afghan guards of honor carry wreaths with photographs of Agence France-Presse journalist Sardar Ahmad, his wife Humaira and their children Nilofar and Omar in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, March 23. Photo credit: AP Photo/Rahmat Gul

Sardar Ahmad, March 2014.  Ahmad, an Afghan senior correspondent reporting for Agence France-Presse, was killed alongside his wife and two of his children March 20 when four teenage gunmen stormed the Kabul hotel where the family was dining. Ahmad also worked as head of Pressistan, a media firm he founded as a resource for foreign journalists. Ahmad’s 2-year-old son, shot three times during the attack, survived. In total, the attack killed nine people and wounded six.

In this file photo dated Aug. 20, 2013, Swedish journalist Nils Horner is photographed in Stockholm. Photo credit: AP Photo/Mattias Ahlm, Swedish Radio

Nils Horner, March 2014.  Horner, a British-Swedish journalist reporting for Swedish Radio, was killed by two gunman while talking to his translator March 11 in Kabul. Horner had worked as a foreign correspondent for Swedish Radio since 2001. A Taliban splinter group, Fidai Mahaz, later claimed responsibility for the shooting.

In this undated photo provided by the U.S. Army, Staff Sgt. James P. Hunter, 25, is shown. Photo credit: AP Photo/U.S. Army

James P. Hunter, June 2010. Hunter, a U.S. Army journalist and staff sergeant, was killed June 18, 2010 by a roadside bomb. Hunter  frequently published stories and photographs in The Fort Campbell Courier. Hunter was the first military journalist to be killed in the war in Afghanistan.

Canadian journalist Michelle Lang. Photo credit: Charles LeBlanc, Flickr

Michelle Lang, December 2009.  Lang died Dec. 30, 2009 when the military convoy she was riding in struck a homemade bomb outside the city of Kandahar. A reporter for The Calgary Herald, and she four Canadian soldiers were  killed in the attack. Lang was two weeks into a six-week reporting assignment. She was the first Canadian journalist killed in the Afghan war.

Relatives sit besides the coffin containing body of Zakia Zaki, June 6, 2007. Photo credit: Ali Shah Paktiawal, EPA/SYED JAN SABAWOON

Zakia Zaki, June 2007.  Zaki, the owner of the only independent radio station in the northern Parwan province, was killed by gunmen June 4, 2007 as she slept at home next to her 8-month-old son. Zaki used Peace Radio as a platform to discuss topics including women’s rights, human rights and local politics. Despite death threats, Zaki continued to criticize local warlords and remained politically visible in her community.

A file photo showing German journalist Karen Fischer in Kabul, Afghanistan, 5th October 2004. Photo credit: EPA/Karen Fischer

Karen Fischer, October 2006.  Fischer and Christian Struwe, German reporters for Deutsche Welle, were killed in their tent Oct. 7, 2006 in the northern province of Baghlan. The two journalists were traveling to Bamiyan, about 105 miles (177 km) west of Kabul, in order to conduct research for an upcoming documentary. Struwe had previously helped establish a state-run Afghan radio and television newsroom.

Afghan-born photographer Azizullah Haidari, 33, was among four journalists killed Nov.19, 2001. Photo credit: AP Photo/Mian Khursheed/Reuters/HO

Azizullah Haidari, November 2001.  Four journalists were killed when their convoy was ambushed by a group identified as Taliban and al-Qaeda supporters on Nov. 19, 2001 near Sarobi, about 60 miles east of Kabul. El Mundo reporter Julio Fuentes; Maria Grazia Cutuli, an Italian reporter for Corriere della Serra; Reuters journalist Harry Burton and Afghan photographer Haidari died in the attack. Five men were arrested in 2003 for the murders.

The body of German freelance journalist Volker Handloik is recovered by members of the Northern Alliance. Photo credit: AP Photo/Intermedia via APTN

Johanne Sutton, Pierre Billaud and Volker Handloik, November 2001.  French journalists Sutton and Billaud and German freelance journalist Handloik were killed by Taliban fire Nov. 11, 2001. A rocket-propelled grenade struck the armored personnel carrier they were in while traveling with Northern Alliance soldiers. Sutton, a reporter for Radio France International, was the first female journalist to die reporting on the Afghan war. Three other journalists riding in the vehicle survived the attack.