At around 7.30am, Professor Yusuf was tending his son's grocery shop near his own home in Rachna Town when two masked persons drove up to the shop on motorbikes. They immediately fired two shots at Prof Yusuf and thereafter fled the scene.

Upon hearing the gunshots a son of Prof Yusuf came running to the grocery shop and found his father seriously wounded. The wounds were indeed fatal and Prof Yusuf died on route to the local hospital.

The Jamaat has faced a great deal of opposition in the Rachna Town area and this opposition has markedly increased in recent times. Banners are seen around the area stating that Ahmadis are 'Wajibul Qatl' ie that they ought to be killed. Further, a number of anti-Ahmadi rallies have taken place in the area inciting others to violently oppose and harass all Ahmadis. A number of Ahmadis in the area have also faced death threats.

The police have been made aware of all such incidents, yet no action has been forthcoming.

Professor Yusuf was a greatly loved and well known personality of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat. He is survived by his widow, four sons and one daughter.

The martyrdom of Prof Muhammad Yusuf grieves every single Ahmadi the world over. He was a gentle and loving elderly man.

It is a grave reality that no Ahmadi - man, woman or child - is safe in Pakistan. A country founded on principles of tolerance and religious freedom has transformed into a country of hatred, extremism and cruelty of the highest order.

Last year 11 Ahmadis were killed in Pakistan for no other reason than that they belonged to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat. And this new year of 2010 has already seen the blood of another Ahmadi being shed.

May God grant patience to the family and friends of the deceased at this time of great trial.

- Abid Khan, Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat