Kiwi killed in Kabul bomb blast
Muslim community mourns as death of social justice campaigner and advocate leaves ‘huge void’
Auckland’s Muslim community is mourning a “passionate and generous” community leader who was killed in a bomb blast in Afghanistan. Hashem Slaimankhel was caught up in a Taliban attack in the Afghan capital of Kabul, which killed at least 95 people and injured 158.
Slaimankhel, who lived in Epsom, was an elder of the New Zealand Muslim Association’s Shura Committee and chairman of the Umma Trust, which provides social and community services for refugee and migrant communities. He was previously chairman of the Afghan Association of New Zealand.
Secretary of the Ponsonby mosque Firoz Patel said Slaimankhel was widely respected and the community would mourn his loss.
There were plans under way to hold a memorial at the mosque.
Patel said about 250 to 300 members of the community had gathered at the family home and Slaimankhel’s family was due to fly to Afghanistan last night.
Slaimankhel travelled to Afghanistan in November with his daughterin-law, who is understood to be safe. He had been on holiday helping with his grandchildren and visiting family and had been due to arrive back in New Zealand this week.
Jennifer Janif, who had known him for more than 25 years and volunteered with him on the Umma Trust, said the news of his death had devastated the community who had been eagerly awaiting his return.
“It leaves a huge void in our lives and the work we do, for his family of course, for his community members and for the diverse communities we work with.
“We visited families and we said, ‘look Hashem’s not here and we’ve got to wait for him because he’s the one that understands the language and speaks the culture’. “It’s just hard to believe ... ” Janif said he was known for his humility, generosity and selflessness in caring for others. Slaimankhel was a passionate advocate and cam- paigner for social justice and the rights of women and children.
“His work has touched the lives of many, many families. The service that he provided. The youth, the elderly, the mothers, single mothers.”
Umma Trust youth leader Naima Ali said he was extremely supportive and had continued to help her family with their resettlement from Somalia even though they had been in New Zealand for 18 years.
He would help anyone regardless of their culture or religion, she said.
“There was no inferiority or superiority . . . He was always respectful of us youth, towards anybody whether they were elders or young people, there was always a mutual respect.”
Slaimankhel arrived in New Zealand in 1998 after qualifying as a doctor in Pakistan, according to a Ministry of Social Development publication.
He worked for the Auckland DHB as a refugee health worker and in 2010 his role helping the community consider family violence issues was recognised by the New Zealand Police, Ministry of Social Development and the Auckland Council.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was aware of the death of a New Zealand citizen in a terrorist incident in Afghanistan and was in contact with the person’s family.
MFat would not provide further details due to privacy reasons.
The bomb was hidden in an ambulance and detonated at a police checkpoint in a busy part of the city crowded with pedestrians.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast, a week after they claimed an attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in which more than 20 people were killed.
After an exhausting night ascent a rescue mission has found a French mountaineer on the slopes of Pakistan’s treacherous “Killer Mountain”, but a Polish climber who had been with her remains missing, believed dead.
Elisabeth Revol and her climbing companion, Tomasz Mackiewicz, had called for help at the weekend from about 7400m up Pakistan’s second highest peak, the 8126m Nanga Parbat.
Polish media, which have followed the developments closely, reported that Revol had frostbite on her feet and could not walk.
Mackiewicz reportedly was suffering from snow blindness and altitude sickness. There were temperatures of -60C at the height where the climbers were stuck.
A team of elite Polish climbers, who had been attempting the first winter ascent of the nearby K2 mountain, rushed to try to rescue them.
Pakistani military helicopters buzzing over Nanga Parbat had spotted Revol at about 6700m during daylight, a Pakistani official said. Climber Denis Urubko who has dual Polish citizenship, together with Polish climbers Adam Bielecki, Jaroslaw Botor and Piotrek Tomala were dropped off by the helicopters at about 4900m, from where the first two began their ascent.
“!!! Elisabeth #Revol found !!!” the Polish team said on Facebook.
Ludovic Giambiasi, Revol’s partner, wrote on Facebook that two team members would descend with Revol after resting in the open for a couple of hours. They were not able to find Mackiewicz, he said, and would have to leave without him. “The rescue for Tomasz is unfortunately not possible — because of the weather and altitude it would put the life of rescuers in extreme danger,” Giambiasi wrote. “It’s a terrible and painful decision. . . . All our thoughts go out to Tomek’s family and friends. We are crying.” A helicopter organised by the Polish Embassy in Islamabad would carry Revol and her rescuers to the Pakistani town of Skardu, if the weather allows, Giambiasi wrote.
Karrar Haidri, of the Pakistan Alpine Federation, said Mackiewicz was declared deceased. Pakistan rivals Nepal for the number of peaks over 7000m and is considered a climbers’ paradise, but fatalities are also common. Nanga Parbat obtained its “Killer Mountain” moniker due to the high number of lives it has claimed.