A U.S. Army veteran and aid worker was shot to death in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday night allegedly by a mullah.
NBC News reported that Lisa Akbari, a former research manager for the U.S. Army, was shot and killed in her apartment complex. The U.S. Embassy confirmed Akbari’s death Monday.
Akbari was shot dead when leaving the gym in her apartment building, according to CNN, and a Kabul district police chief said that a mullah allegedly carried out the attack.
Fraidoon Obaidi, the police chief, said that the mullah was arrested and being questioned. He was reportedly detained less than three miles from the scene of the attack and sustained injuries during his arrest.
Obaidi further stated that investigators found documents in the unnamed suspect’s home that indicate he has links to terrorist groups.
Obaidi did not specify to which groups the mullah appears to be linked.
Akbari, a dual U.S.-Afghan citizen, worked for the U.S. Army for four years ending in 2013 and later became an aid worker for World Vision and other aid agencies in Afghanistan. She had been living in Kabul for three years.
According to the Afghan TOLO News agency, the mullah lived in the same apartment complex as Akbari.
Akbari’s death came hours before a suicide car bombing killed six U.S. soldiers and wounded three others near Bagram Airfield in the deadliest attack on foreign troops since August. Two of those wounded were American troops and the other an interpreter.