News / Afghanistan

Gunmen kill head of Afghan election monitoring group in Kabul

Wednesday, 23 December 2020 3:30 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 23 December 2020 3:30 PM ]

Damaged cars are seen at the site of an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, December 20, 2020. (File photo by AFP)

The head of an independent Afghan election monitoring organization has been killed in an ambush by unknown gunmen in the capital Kabul.

The attack was carried out in a southern suburb of the capital city on Wednesday.

Mohammad Yousuf Rasheed, the head of the Free and Fair Election Forum of Afghanistan (FEFA), and his driver Samiullah succumbed to gunshot wounds at a city hospital, FEFA staffer Abdul Wahab Qarizada told AFP.

Rasheed was targeted while he was on his way to work.

Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz confirmed the attack.

Rasheed’s murder is the latest targeted killing amid rising violence in Afghanistan despite peace talks between the government and Taliban

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) denounced Rasheed's murder.

"Targeted killings of civilians are taking place at a deeply disturbing rate in Afghanistan," UNAMA said in a tweet.

"Such dreadful acts are rarely claimed and frequently focus on those working for an open society. The UN repeats its call for a sustained reduction in violence."

The ambush comes a day after five people, including four physicians working at Pul-e-Charkhi Prison where Taliban inmates are held, were killed in a car bomb blast in the capital.