Anja Niedringhaus, 48, an internationally acclaimed German photographer, was killed when a man wearing an Afghan police uniform opened fire on a car in Afghanistan.

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Palestinian women react after their relative Billal Nabham was found dead underneath the rubble of a house in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip on January 19, 2009. He had been missing for 20 days Anja Niedringhaus/Reuters

Niedringhaus covered conflict zones including Kuwait, Iraq, Libya, Gaza and the West Bank during a 20-year stretch, beginning with the Balkans in the 1990s.

She has received numerous awards for her work. She was part of an AP team that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news photography for coverage of the war in Iraq, and was awarded the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women's Media Foundation.

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Palestinian sisters Dunia, 10, and Dana, 5, sort out their belongings after finding them among the debris of their parents' destroyed home in the southern part of Gaza City, on January 20, 2009 Anja Niedringhaus/Reuters
Children play with home-made toy guns in Sarajevos frontline-suburb of Dobrinja, on 18 January 1996
Children play with home-made toy guns in Sarajevo's frontline suburb of Dobrinja, on 18 January 1996 Anja Niedringhaus/AFP/Getty
Bosnian refugees from Velika Kladusa look out of a makeshift shelter in Kuplenskos refugee camp on the Bosnian-Croatian border
26 November 1995: Bosnian refugees from Velika Kladusa look out of a makeshift shelter in Kuplensko's refugee camp on the Bosnian-Croatian border Anja Niedringhaus/AFP/Getty
Friends mourn during the funeral of 17-year-old Amel Hodzic who was shot by a sniper
6 May 1995: Friends mourn during the funeral of 17-year-old Amel Hodzic who was shot by a sniper in Sarajevo Anja Niedringhaus/AFP/Getty
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US President George W Bush serves food as he attends Thanksgiving celebrations at a military base at Baghdad airport, on November 27, 2003 Anja Niedringhaus/Reuters
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Louisiana National Guard troops of the 256th Brigade Combat team take a nap prior to leaving Camp Victory on the Iraqi-Kuwait border to return to the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina, on September 8, 2005 Anja Niedringhaus/Reuters
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A US soldier walks through Abu Ghraib prison, outside Baghdad, on May 5, 2004, after President George W Bush promised the Arab world that those responsible for abusing Iraqi prisoners would be punished Anja Niedringhaus/Reuters

Niedringhaus also covered major sporting events around the world, including the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. She photographed Andy Murray winning Wimbledon last year.

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Andy Murray kisses the trophy after defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia in their men's singles final tennis match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, on July 7, 2013 Anja Niedringhaus/Reuters
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Prime Minister David Cameron and Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond celebrate as Andy Murray beats Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, on July 7, 2013 Anja Niedringhaus/AFP/Getty
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Marie Ellen Clark from the US dives off the 10-metre platform at the Barcelona Olympic Games, on 26 July 1992 Anja Niedringhaus/AFP/Getty

In a memo to staff, AP President Gary Pruitt remembered Niedringhaus as "spirited, intrepid and fearless, with a raucous laugh that we will always remember."

"Anja is the 32nd AP staffer to give their life in pursuit of the news since AP was founded in 1846," he wrote. "This is a profession of the brave and the passionate, those committed to the mission of bringing to the world information that is fair, accurate and important. Anja Niedringhaus met that definition in every way."

award
Anja Niedringhaus (12 October 1965 - 4 April 2014) Getty
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