Tim Hetherington, the daring war photographer and Oscar-nominated co-director of the documentary “Restrepo” about a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, was killed Wednesday while covering battles between rebels and Libyan government forces. He was 40.

Hetherington was killed along with Getty Images photographer Chris Hondros in Misrata, the only rebel-held city in western Libya. Two other photojournalists were wounded in the attack. Misrata has come under weeks of relentless shelling by government troops. Hetherington had tweeted Tuesday: “In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO.”

“Tim was in Libya to continue his ongoing multimedia project to highlight humanitarian issues during time of war and conflict,” Hetherington’s family said in a statement. “He will be forever missed.”

Hetherington was nominated with Sebastian Junger, author of “The Perfect Storm,” for an Academy Award for their 2010 documentary film “Restrepo,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

“There is no way to express my devastation and sorrow at the death of my dear friend Tim Hetherington in Misrata, Libya,” said Junger. “Tim was one of the most courageous and principled journalists I have ever known. The good that he accomplished – both with his camera and simply as a concerned person in some of the most devastated countries in the world – cannot be measured.”

“Restrepo,” filmed by both Hetherington and Junger, told the emotional story of the 2nd Platoon in the 173rd Airborne Combat Team on its deployment in Afghanistan in 2007-2008. The title refers to an isolated platoon outpost in the deadly Korengal Valley named after a popular soldier, Juan Restrepo, who was killed early in the fighting.

“No one who saw ‘Restrepo’ had any doubts about the dangers that Tim Hetherington and his crew were subjecting themselves to in order to bring us that story,” said Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences executive director Bruce Davis.

Hetherington was born in Liverpool, England, and studied literature and photojournalism at Oxford University. Known for his gutsy ability to capture conflict zones on film, his other credits included working as a cameraman on the documentaries “Liberia: An Uncivil War” and “The Devil Came on Horseback.”