Berlin - German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek- Zeul condemned Monday the murder of Afghan-German provincial legislator and women's rights activist Sitara Achikzai in the Afghan province of Kandahar. "This brave woman wanted to help the people in Afghanistan and applied herself with her full engagement for the rights of women," the minister said.

Achikzai, who was aged in her 50s, was shot dead Sunday afternoon by Taliban fighters riding on motorbikes outside her home in Kandahar city.

Wieczorek-Zeul said the Afghan authorities had to do everything to find the culprits and punish them for the murder, and also called on Germany to help solve the crime.

The minister said the protection of all Afghan citizens needed to be safeguarded, especially for those engaged in rebuilding the country's democracy.

A dual Afghan-German citizen, Achikzai spent years in exile in Germany with her family and returned to Afghanistan following the ouster of the Taliban's ultra-Islamic regime in late 2001.

Achikzai and her husband, a doctor and university lecturer, came back to Afghanistan to work in Kandahar province, while their son and daughter live in Germany. (dpa)