Ian Pannell

Ian Pannell is chief foreign correspondent for ABC News, stationed in the London Bureau.

During his tenure at ABC News, he has reported on the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, the battle against the Islamic State group (IS) in Iraq and Syria, the fight to retake Mosul, the killing of U.S. soldiers in Niger, the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico, and the fight and famine in Yemen. 

Prior to joining ABC News in 2017, Pannell worked at the BBC for over 25 years. When the Taliban fled Afghanistan in 2001, he was the very first journalist to enter the capital, Kabul, with the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance and was stationed there from 2008-2010 for the BBC.

He reported from Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and Syria on the Arab Spring uprisings and subsequent wars, the frontlines of Crimea and Donbas in 2014 and 2015, and extensively across the Middle East. He also covered the Israel-Lebanon War in 2006 and reported from Gaza during the Hamas-Israel conflict in 2014. 

Pannell began his career working in radio at the BBC and went on to host news shows for BBC World as well as the BBC News Channel.