AP Photog Wounded in Afghanistan Now Being Treated in Baltimore

By: An Associated Press photographer wounded in a bomb blast in southern Afghanistan was in a Baltimore hospital Monday to be treated for severe leg injuries.

Emilio Morenatti's left foot was amputated because of the injury.

"He is recovering well and is in good spirits," AP spokesman Jack Stokes said. "We'll know more about the next steps in his recuperation later this week."

Morenatti and AP Television News videographer Andi Jatmiko were traveling last week with a U.S. military unit when their vehicle ran over a bomb planted in open desert terrain. Two soldiers were also hurt, including one who suffered severe leg wounds.

Jatmiko has leg injuries and two broken ribs and was expected to return Monday to his home in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Morenatti, 40, a Spaniard, is an award-winning photographer based in Islamabad who has worked for the AP in Afghanistan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. He was named Newspaper Photographer of the Year in 2009 by Pictures of the Year International.

His wife, Marta Ramoneda, accompanied him to Baltimore.

Journalists have faced increasing danger from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, as they go on assignment with Western troops carrying out new offensives as part of the effort by the U.S. and its allies to turn the tide of the Afghan war.

IED attacks are now the cause of the majority of U.S. and NATO deaths in Afghanistan.