A memorial service will be held in New Zealand for the doctor who was killed in Afghanistan.
Hashem Slaimankhel. Photo: Facebook
Aucklander Hashem Slaimankhel died in a suicide attack which killed 103 people and injured another 235.
The secretary of the Ponsonby Mosque, Firoz Patel, told Morning Report his friend had been doing some last minute shopping at the Kabul market before his flight back to Auckland when he was killed in the bomb attack.
He said he had known Mr Slaimankhel for nearly 29 years, when he first arrived in New Zealand as a refugee.
New arrivals were normally shy and reserved, but Mr Slaimankhel was different, Mr Patel. "From the very first day he came and met everybody and from that point I knew that he has a quality of a person who'll be giving everything for the community."
"The whole community is shocked - it's unbelievable that a New Zealand citizen in Afghanistan has been hit by a bomb; he's got nothing to do with the fight." - Firoz Patel
Mr Slaimankhel was an elder of Auckland's Muslim community, and worked in refugee resettlement for the Auckland District Health Board.
"He [tried] to help everybody and guide them and nurture them and give them direction [on] where to go and get help."
He also worked to prevent family violence, especially against women, Mr Patel said.
Hundreds of people have been visiting his family home to show their support.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has expressed her condolences to the family of Mr Slaimankhel, and said the New Zealand embassy in Afghanistan would be offering assistance to his family.
Mr Patel said the family were preparing to travel to Afghanistan, where Mr Slaimankhel would be buried.
A memorial service will be held in Auckland on their return.
Afghan security personnel arrive after the car bomb exploded. Photo: AFP
Witnesses say the area of the attack - also home to offices of the European Union, a hospital and a shopping zone known as Chicken Street - was crowded with people when the bomb exploded.
An Afghanistan interior ministry spokesperson said the attacker drove an ambulance laden with explosives past a security checkpoint, telling police he was taking a patient to a nearby hospital, and detonated the bomb at a second checkpoint.