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Reuters

Pakistan's military intelligence agencies will investigate the murder of a human rights activist, shot dead by gunmen on a motorcycle just minutes after she hosted a talk on disappearances and killings.
Sabeen Mahmud was leaving her Karachi cafe, where she holds art exhibitions and talks, when gunman on a motorcycle attacked her as she stopped at a traffic light. Her mother, Mehnaz Mahmud, who was with her, was wounded, police said.
Military spokesman Asim Bajwa condemned the killing in a message on his Twitter feed and said the intelligence agencies had been tasked to help investigators.
"Our heart goes out to bereaved family at this sad moment," he said.

Mahmud had just hosted a seminar called "Unsilencing Baluchistan", focusing on the disappearance of political activists in the southwestern Baluchistan province. Mahmud was also a prominent critic of Islamist militant violence.
Friends and colleagues on Friday described her death as a targeted assassination in Pakistan, a country with a nascent democracy where the military and intelligence services still hold tremendous sway.
Rights activists accuse the military security agencies of carrying out extra-judicial killings of separatists in the province. Hundreds of people have disappeared and later been found dead in recent years.
The military denies any role in the killings, and the army has vowed to end the Baluchistan insurgency being waged by separatists who say their province's mineral and gas resources are unfairly exploited by Pakistan's richer provinces. Mahmud's car was brought to a nearby police station; blood stained the car's white exterior, the front driver's side window was smashed and a pair of sandals sat on the floor, surrounded by broken glass.
Alia Chughtai, a close friend of Mahmud, said Mahmud was driving at the time of attack and her mother was sitting next to her. Chughtai said Mahmud's driver, who escaped unharmed, was sitting in the back seat at the time of the attack. She said she did not know why the driver wasn't driving the car.
"Two men riding a motorcycle opened fire on the car," senior police officer Zafar Iqbal said. Mahmud "died on her way to the hospital. Her mother was also wounded", he said.
Qadeer Baluch, an activist who last year led a nearly 3,000km protest march across Pakistan to demand justice for the missing in Baluchistan, attended Mahmud's event on Friday night. Baluch, known widely as Mama - or "Uncle" in Urdu - hinted that the government could be involved in Mahmud's slaying.
"Everybody knows who killed her and why," Baluch told Pakistan's The Nation newspaper.

In a statement, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned Mahmud's killing and ordered an investigation into the attack. The US embassy in Islamabad also condemned Mahmud's slaying and offered condolences to her loved ones.
Mahmud was "a courageous voice of the Pakistani people and her death represents a great loss", it said. Mahmud, a well-known activist also ran a small technology company. She continued to live in Karachi, even while acknowledging the danger from insurgent groups and criminals operating there.
"Fear is just a line in your head," Mahmud said in 2013. "You can choose what side of that line you want to be on."
Additional reporting from Associated Press


Pakistani military intelligence to investigate slaying of activist Sabeen Mahmud

Sandals sit in broken glass in the car in which human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud was shot to death by gunmen on a motorcycle. Photo: AP

Human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud

Pakistanis gather for funeral prayers for Mahmud, who was also a prominent critic of Islamist militant violence. Photo: Xinhua

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Slaying of Sabeen Mahmud, after she hosted talk on disappearances and murders, labelled a targeted assassination by her friends and colleagues


Slaying of Sabeen Mahmud, after she hosted talk on disappearances and murders, labelled a targeted assassination by her friends and colleagues.


Pakistani military intelligence to investigate slaying of activist Sabeen Mahmud

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Slaying of Sabeen Mahmud, after she hosted talk on disappearances and murders, labelled a targeted assassination by her friends and colleagues

Slaying of Sabeen Mahmud, after she hosted talk on disappearances and murders, labelled a targeted assassination by her friends and colleagues