KABUL – Gunmen on a motorbike shot dead a women’s rights activist and her brother north of the capital yesterday, said officials, as a wave of assassinations ravages the violence-wracked country.
Freshta Kohistani, 29, is the second activist to be killed in two days, after a prominent pro-democracy advocate was gunned down here on Wednesday.
Their murders follow a similar pattern seen in recent weeks, in which prominent Afghans have died in targeted killings in broad daylight, several of them in the capital.
“Unknown gunmen on a motorbike assassinated Freshta Kohistani in Kohistan district of Kapisa province,” Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian told reporters.
Kapisa Governor Abdul Latif Murad told AFP that the shooting took place near Kohistani’s home, and that her brother was also killed in the attack.
No group has claimed responsibility so far.
Kohistani, who campaigned for veteran leader Abdullah Abdullah during last year’s presidential election, enjoyed a relatively large following on social media, and regularly organised civil society events here calling for women’s rights.
Abdullah said Kohistani was killed in a “terrorist attack”.
In a Facebook post, he described her as a “brave and fearless” activist who was at the forefront of civil and social life in Afghanistan.
“The continuation of such assassinations is unacceptable,” said Abdullah, who leads the country’s overall peace process.
Days before her death, Kohistani, who is survived by her husband and one child, said in a Facebook post that she had asked for protection from authorities after receiving threats.
She also condemned the ongoing wave of assassinations of journalists and other prominent figures.
“Afghanistan is not a place to live in. There is no hope for peace. Tell the tailor to take your measurement (for a funeral shroud), tomorrow it could be your turn,” she tweeted last month.
The assassinations have triggered fear across the country, especially in Kabul.
“The security situation is deteriorating day by day,” said government employee Ahmad Jawed.
“When we leave our homes in the morning, we are not sure we will return home alive by the evening.”
Journalists, politicians and rights activists have increasingly been targeted as violence surges in Afghanistan, despite peace talks between the government and Taliban.
On Wednesday, Mohammad Yousuf Rasheed, who led an independent election monitoring organisation, was ambushed and shot in morning rush-hour traffic here, along with his driver.
His murder came a day after five people – including two doctors working for a prison on the outskirts of the capital – were killed by a car bomb.
A prominent journalist was also shot this week while on his way to a mosque in the eastern city of Ghazni.
Rahmatullah Nekzad is the fourth reporter to be killed in Afghanistan in the last two months, and the seventh media worker this year, according to the Kabul-based Afghan Journalists’ Safety Committee. – AFP, December 25, 2020
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