Three Ahmadis injured in religiously motivated attack

Three Ahmadiyya security volunteers were shot and injured when an unidentified gunman opened fire on their vehicle which was stationed outside the Baitul Aqsa mosque in Rabwah (Chenab Nagar), in Pakistan’s Punjab Province, on 5 June.

According to the International Human Rights Desk of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and a spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan, Waqas Ahmad, 23, was struck by four bullets, while Abdul Jabbar, 39, was shot in the abdomen. Both are reported to be in a critical condition at the time of writing. The third victim, 30-year-old Bilal Ahmad, sustained a gunshot wound to the chest as the bullet passed through his body causing internal bleeding, though he was reported to be out of immediate danger.

According to eyewitnesses, an unidentified man arrived on a motorcycle with his face concealed at approximately 9pm, opened fire on the vehicle, and fled the scene. The men had been posted outside the Baitul Aqsa mosque as part of the community’s regular security arrangements. A previous shooting had taken place outside the same mosque on 10 October 2025 in which six people were injured.

Pakistan’s Ahmadiyya community is the most institutionally and constitutionally oppressed religious group in the country. Various laws categorise the Ahmadiyya community as ‘non-Muslims’ and place restrictions on the community, including a 1974 constitutional amendment, and Sections 298-B and C of the penal code.

Ahmadis are also repeatedly targeted with violence and hate speech. This year CSW received several reports in which the Ahmadiyya Community faced a coordinated, state-facilitated campaign of religious suppression across the country around the religious festival of Eid-ul-Adha, which took place from 26-30 May. Ahmadis were arrested and detained; criminal investigations were opened; goats were seized from Ahmadi homes; and mosque loudspeakers were used to call on the public to report Ahmadi animal sacrifices to police. Ahmadi places of worship across Punjab Province were locked by police while Eid prayers in dozens of districts were restricted and curtailed.

CSW’s CEO Scot Bower said: ‘CSW strongly condemns this targeted attack on the Ahmadiyya community in Rabwah. We wish the three security volunteers a swift and full recovery, and assure their families of our prayers. The Pakistani authorities have consistently failed to prosecute those responsible for incitement to violence against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Extremist organisations continue to operate with impunity, disseminating hate speech, organising boycott campaigns, and publishing material that explicitly encourages violence against Ahmadis. We call upon the authorities to conduct a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into this attack and bring all those responsible to justice. We are also concerned about the restrictions imposed by the state and police authorities around Eid-ul-Adha, and call on the government to provide adequate protection to Ahmadi places of worship, to reverse discriminatory legislation, and to combat the hateful rhetoric that emboldens and encourages extremists to carry out such horrific attacks.’