Saeed Karim Musawi a known Human Rights Defender and CSO activist was shot and killed by two gunmen who were riding on a motorbike and escaped the scene. He was targeted near his home at Kunduz city Khanabad Bandar square when he was heading home and a police investigation is going on.

According to civil society activists from Kunduz, the targeting of intellectuals is becoming more frequent in the province which is scaring everyone who is critical of the current security and political situation in the province. No one claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Kunduz is one of the insecure provinces in the North of Afghanistan where Taliban managed to take over the city twice between 2015-2016 and Taliban continue to make advances in the province.

SRMO is calling on the Afghan government to do investigate the assassination of Mr. Musawi and other intellectuals in the province, bring the perpetrators to justice and use all its resources to ensure the safety and security of Human Rights including Women Rights Defenders, civil society activists and journalists in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Civil Society Joined working group in a statement condemned the killing and said this attack indicates that terrorists and Afghanistan enemy has no respect for human rights, Islamic values and freedom of expression, and their main goal is the killing of innocent and impartial individuals of the society. The group emphasizes that according the Islamic and international humanitarian laws, the civil society activists and civilians should not be targeted.