Afghanistan: US Army photographer captured blast moment before her death

Annapolis (Maryland, US): The US Army has published the final photo of a combat photographer who captured her own death on camera in an accidental mortar explosion in Afghanistan nearly four years ago.

The photograph of specialist Hilda Clayton was published this week in Military Review.

The Army’s professional journal noted that Clayton’s death “symbolises how female soldiers are increasingly exposed to hazardous situations in training and in combat on par with their male counterparts.”

Hilda Clayton. (Photo: AP)

Clayton snapped the picture during a live-fire training exercise on July 2, 2013 in the Laghman Province, Afghanistan. The blast also killed four Afghan National Army soldiers. One of them was a photojournalist Clayton had partnered with to train.

Clayton, of Augusta, Georgia, was a member of the Fort Meade, Maryland-based 55th Signal Company. She was 22.