Background
Chmagh was born January 1, 1967 in Iraq.
Chmagh was born January 1, 1967 in Iraq.
He joined Reuters before the United States-led invasion in 2003. With 4 children of his own, he financially supported his family and another three through his work. Chris Helgren, then Reuters" chief photographer in the region, launched a plan to employ and train Iraqis, with more local knowledge and access to areas now perilous for Westerners.
Helgren said: "There are few "good news" stories to be had in this war and wars by definition are tales of violence.
And to get there, drivers like Saeed Chmagh are indispensable.” "Saeed had a reputation of being fiercely loyal and appeared fearless to medical If you ever needed to get quickly to a dangerous area, passing chicanes of barbed wire and boobytraps, Saeed was your manitoba
But he also had a very quiet, loving side and spoke often of his kids."
On July 12, 2007, after several skirmishes in the area, two American Animal Husbandry-64 Apache helicopters observed a group of people milling around on a street in Baghdad. Believing the group to be the armed Iraqi insurgents who earlier engaged United States soldiers nearby, the Apache fired on them.
Two other men who had also come along assisted Chmagh, who was badly wounded and pulling himself along the ground, and carried him to the van.
The watching helicopter crews requested and received permission to engage, and opened fire on the van and its occupants. Two young children in the van were severely wounded by the shooting. Chmagh was 40 years old at the time of his death.
Chmagh and Noor-Eldeen were the fifth and sixth Reuters employees killed in Iraq since the 2003 invasion began.
The Army"s report includes pictures of what are claimed to be weapons found near the bodies at the scene. After their deaths, Reuters screened a photographic tribute to Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh in New York City"s Times Square and London"s Canary Wharf.
The shootings, Chmaghs death, and Noor-Eldeen"s death are detailed in The Good Soldiers, a 2009 non-fiction book by David Finkel.