Johanne Sutton was a French radio reporter and journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

. Graduating from the École supérieure de journalisme de Lille in 1990, she began working for Radio France International in 1991. Sutton had covered conflicts in Kosovo

Kosovo

Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

, Macedonia, and the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

, though she specialized in investigative reporting.

Death

Sutton, along with fellow French journalist Pierre Billaud

Pierre Billaud

Pierre Billaud was a French radio reporter and journalist. He started his career on Radio France then joined Radio Tele Luxembourg as international reporter. He covered the conflicts of Algeria, Israel, Palestine, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo...

 and German journalist Volker Handloik

Volker Handloik

Volker Handloik was a German freelance journalist and reporter. Born in Rostock, Germany, he worked for the Hamburg-based Stern for 10 years and also did some correspondence for newspapers, journals, and magazines such as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, taz, Berliner...

, was killed in an ambush in Dasht-e Qaleh, Takhar Province

Takhar Province

Takhār is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It was established in 1964 when Qataghan Province was divided into three provinces: Baghlan, Kunduz and Takhar. It is in the north-east of the country. Its capital is Taloqan. Its salt mines are one of Afghanistan's major mineral resources...

, Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 on 11 November 2001. The trio were travelling on a Northern Alliance armoured personnel carrier when they came under attack by Taliban troops with machine guns and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Australian journalist Paul McGeough

Paul McGeough

Paul McGeough is an Irish Australian journalist and senior foreign correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald, specialising in Middle Eastern affairs....

 and French journalist Véronique Reyberotte survived the attack. According to Reyberotte Billaud and Sutton jumped off the tank.

Reaction

Former French president Jacques Chirac

Jacques Chirac

Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...

 and former French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin

Lionel Jospin

Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...

praised Sutton and Billaud for their courage.