September 3, 2026
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
A 65-year-old local office-bearer of the Ahmadiyya community was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Mandi Bahauddin on Tuesday evening, in what the community described as a targeted killing amid continuing campaigns of hate and incitement against Ahmadis.
Mirza Safdar Mahmood, who ran an auto repair workshop, was travelling from his workplace towards the Ahmadiyya place of worship, Bait-ul-Zikr, when he was attacked near Eid Gah Gate, within the jurisdiction of City police station, Mandi Bahauddin, according to a statement issued by the Ahmadiyya community.
The First Information Report registered by City police under Sections 302 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, also records the killing and names two unidentified assailants.
The incident took place on the evening of September 2. According to the community’s account, the assailants opened fire on Mahmood, who succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
The Ahmadiyya community said Mahmood had no known personal enmity and described him as a respected local office-bearer. His funeral and burial are expected to take place in Rabwah. He is survived by his widow and two sons.
Call for action against hate campaigns
Condemning the killing, Amir Mahmood, spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Community Pakistan, called on the authorities to arrest not only those directly responsible for the murder but also those accused of promoting hatred and violence against members of the community.
“There is an urgent need to bring those who murder Ahmadis, as well as those who spread narratives of hatred and advocate violence against them, to justice,” he said, according to the statement.
The spokesperson said anti-Ahmadi hate campaigns and provocative gatherings had continued in different parts of the country, including Mandi Bahauddin.
He alleged that some religious figures in the district had publicly made extreme threats against Ahmadis, including threats directed at Ahmadi women and an Ahmadi police officer serving in Mandi Bahauddin.
“These campaigns of hatred and incitement must be stopped immediately,” the spokesperson said, demanding that those responsible for Mahmood’s killing, as well as anyone found to have facilitated or encouraged violence, be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
Previous attacks
The Ahmadiyya community also pointed to previous killings of its members in Mandi Bahauddin and elsewhere, arguing that perpetrators of anti-Ahmadi violence had not always been brought to justice.
It recalled the killing of two Ahmadis in broad daylight in Saadullahpur, Mandi Bahauddin, on June 8, 2024.
The community also referred to the May 16, 2025 killing of Ahmadi doctor Shaikh Muhammad Mahmood in Sargodha, alleging that the killer in that case remained at large.
Mahmood’s killing is the latest incident to raise concerns over the security of members of Pakistan’s Ahmadiyya community, who have long faced religious discrimination, restrictions and episodes of violence.
Police have registered a case and investigations into the killing are under way. No arrests had been reported at the time of filing this report.