Killing marks third faith-based murder of Ahmadi Muslims
in one month
On 16 May 2025, Dr Sheikh Muhammad Mahmood, a 58-year-old Ahmadi Muslim gastroenterologist, was shot and killed outside Fatima Trust Hospital in Sargodha, Punjab. Dr Mahmood had faced sustained threats from religious extremists due to his affiliation with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. His murder marks the third targeted killing of an Ahmadi Muslim in Pakistan within the past month.
The attack occurred shortly after Friday prayers, at around 2:35 PM, as Dr Mahmood arrived at the hospital accompanied by his wife and driver. As he entered the hospital grounds, a gunman wearing a uniform of the Saaf Suthra Punjab government sanitation initiative approached from behind and shot him twice in the back. The bullets passed through his body.
The assailant escaped on a motorcycle with an accomplice who had been waiting nearby. Dr Mahmood’s wife and driver rushed him to Civil Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries shortly after arrival.
Witnesses reported that the gunman had been loitering near the emergency ward earlier in the day and had specifically asked about Dr Mahmood’s schedule. A First Information Report has been filed at Shahid Shaheed Police Station under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Dr Sheikh Mahmood is survived by his mother, wife, two daughters, and two sons.
Dr Mahmood had previously been forced to resign from a private hospital under threats linked to his faith. The hospital owner, due to political affiliations, feared that retaining an Ahmadi Muslim doctor could alienate religiously motivated voters.
Dr Mahmood was widely respected for his charitable medical service and had no known personal enmities.
The city of Sargodha has long been a notorious hotspot for anti-Ahmadi sentiment, with previous incidents of violence, intimidation, and mob activity targeting the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Dr Mahmood’s killing marks yet another dark chapter in this troubling pattern.
This brutal killing marks the third faith-based murder of an Ahmadi Muslim within a single month, following the killing of Laeeq Ahmad Cheema by a mob in Karachi on 18 April, and Muhammad Asif on 24 April.
These killings are a painful reminder that Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan continue to be denied even the most fundamental of rights—the right to life—purely on account of their faith. Urgent and meaningful action is needed to end the cycle of violence and impunity.
Source: Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK.