A leading Pakistani human rights activist has been killed in a drive-by shooting in Karachi after hosting a talk on allegations of torture in the province of Balochistan. Sabeen Mehmud was shot dead as she walked home with her mother, who was also attacked.
Ms Mehmud had been the subject of death threats before.
Tributes were paid to her on social media as soon as news of her death emerged.
Ms Mehmud was a director of the charity The Second Floor, also known as T2F.
T2F regularly holds seminars on human rights issues. It houses a cafe and book shop where Karachi's liberal activists and students can meet.
The seminar on torture in Balochistan was held at T2F, having been cancelled by university authorities in Lahore, where it had been due to take place in the last few weeks. Taliban militants, Baloch separatists and other groups fight in Balochistan, which borders Iran. Shortly after leaving the event, Ms Mehmud and her mother were shot. Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported that Ms Mehmud died on her way to hospital, and that she had been shot five times.
Al Jazeera English has more:
Pakistani rights activist Sabeen Mahmud shot dead
Mahmud, 40, was the director of T2F [The Second Floor], a café and arts space that has been a mainstay of Karachi’s activists since it opened its doors in 2007. She was one of the country’s most outspoken human rights advocates.
Mahmud was shot four times at close range, with bullets going through her shoulder, chest and abdomen, police told Al Jazeera. She was pronounced dead on arrival at the National Medical Centre hospital at 9.40pm.
Mahmud had been on her way from the event, along with her mother, when her car came under fire from unidentified gunmen, according to police.
Her mother was also shot twice, but was undergoing treatment in hospital and was out of immediate danger, hospital officials said.
Mahmud had been present at the opening of a discussion called "Unsilencing Balochistan," hosted at T2F, where prominent Baloch rights activists Mama Qadeer, Farzana Majeed and Muhammad Ali Talpur had been speaking.
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Condolences to her family and prayers for her mom.
This terror will not stop the women of Pakistan from speaking out against injustices.