now on bbc news, our world. a warning that it contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting. afghanistan is in the grip of a new and sinister campaign of violence. young professionals are being deliberately targeted and murdered. it is suspected that the killings are the work of insurgent groups like the taliban and is, who are targeting people, often women, trying to build their country based on democratic values. this year, the united states will withdraw its troops. peace talks have so far failed to reach an agreement and the government accuses the taliban of using violence as leverage, but the taliban deny involvement. the fear is that if these targeted killings continue, the democratic gains of the last 20 years could all be lost. this school, for children with learning difficulties, was born out of tragedy. it was opened in the name of fatima �*natasha' khalil, a human rights activist. aged 2a, she was targeted and killed. natasha was born in pakistan. one of seven children. the family were refugees, fleeing taliban violence during afg hanistan�*s civil war. announcer: khalil, fatima. cheering. natasha spoke six languages, and after graduating with a double degree from university in kyrgyzstan, she returned to afghanistan to decide on a career. all the time, her ambitions was that she wants to work somewhere in a war zone. and then i would always tell her, well come home, you don't have to go somewhere else. her big goal, of course, were that she wanted to be the secretary general of the un. natasha gotjob with the afghanistan human rights commission. she was the youngest so we were the least worried about her. this was herfirstjob. she was just there to start her life. she was so excited. she would always say, lima, this is the real thing, this is real life. at 7:30, on the morning she was killed, natasha was picked up by a government car to go to work. within minutes of leaving the house, a bomb attached to the car exploded. both she and her driver, ahmad jawid folad, were killed. natasha's killing is part of a chilling new tactic by insurgents who identify and target individuals for murder. the victims are all people working to rebuild the country after decades of violence. they are often young and women. they are the generation of social media, they are the generation of internet. they are educated. they don't know how to not be connected to the world. this new generation whose life is like going outside, wearing whatever they want to wear and saying what they have on their mind. but the targeted killings have shocked and frightened many of them. just months before natasha was killed, in the gulf state of qatar, the united states had been talking to the taliban. as we speak, the united states is also working to end the war in afghanistan and we are bringing our troops home. artillery. after 20 years of fighting the taliban in afghanistan, by now america's longest war, both the us and the taliban wanted american troops out. with the afghan government excluded, the us and the taliban struck a deal with each other on the terms of withdrawal. the taliban promised to reduce violence, not to attack us troops and to start talking to the afghan government. mike pompeo: first, keep your promises. | in exchange, the americans promised to get taliban prisoners released and crucially committed to pulling out all their soldiers 1a months later, on may the 1st 2021. that deadline would define the year ahead. helmand is the largest province in afghanistan. it was the site of the most amount of fighting between the taliban, and american and british troops. it remains a taliban stronghold. elias daei was an award—winning reporter for radio free europe, well known for his bravery. aged 1a when american troops arrived, he was 33 when he was killed. on the morning of his death, elias was travelling in the capital lashkargah when a bomb attached to his car exploded. elias lived with three generations of his family. the youngest, his two—year—old daughter. her name meant kindness. as part of the us—taliban deal, the taliban had committed to reducing violence. in the weeks leading up to his death, elias reported on a new taliban offensive in helmand. soon after, his house was searched and the day before he was killed, he sent a text to a colleague believing his life was in danger. targeted and killed since the us taliban deal of february 2020. journalists are the eyes and ears of people. they are the voice of people. ruling powers are always very uneasy and uncomfortable with this, particularly despotic regimes. like the taliban, for example, who didn't even allow tvs back in the days when they were ruling. so, silencing journalism is silencing the whole population. but elias would not be silenced. no—one has claimed responsibility for elias's killing. the taliban deny involvement. most targeted killings go unclaimed by any group. unknown armament is the phrase being used but my understanding is that there is a lot of indication that the taliban are party to these assassinations. there is also an indication that there are additional groups that are also a part of it. the authorities say they are working hard to capture those responsible. every saturday, government officials update the press on investigations. anisa shaheed is a famous tv journalist working for the popular t0 l0news channel. she witnesses violence on a daily basis. despite losing colleagues to targeted killings, anisa and her fellow journalists continue to work. they are uncertain exactly who is behind the attacks. back in doha, the taliban and afghan government had started direct talks — one of the commitments in the us taliban deal. there is one priority for me as an afghan and that is really to see any effort through non—violent means that can end this current bloodshed and this current armed conflict. my personal view, not representing even my family because ijust don't want their life to be in danger. ijust have this problem even calling this process a peace process because it's not a peace process, it'sjust a political settlement between the strongmen. a peace process would mean healing, transitionaljustice and listening to the victims, and nothing like that is happening. farahnaz forotan was at the talks, reporting for itv, a news channel in kabul. she is well known as an activist in helmand and has a social media campaign called myredline. she travelled the country asking people what they could and could not accept in a peace deal — their red lines. at the talks in doha, farahnaz interviewed a member of the taliban, she was not wearing a veil and this attracted a lot of media attention. two months later, she got a call saying she was on a hit—list, her life was in danger. she's now living in the united states. like dozens of young professionals fearing they could be targeted, she left afghanistan but it was not an easy decision. at the start of the year, a new american president took office. preserve, protect and defend... ...the constitution of the united states. ...the constitution of the united states. so help you god. so help me god. congratulations mr president. the question on everyone's mind was with no political solution in sight, would the new president stick to the may one deadline to withdraw troops? meanwhile, in afghanistan, three television interpreters were killed in the capital jalalabad, the capital of nangarhar, which suffered the worst of the surge in targeted killings. within days of each other, three health workers, a doctor and a police officer were also killed. they were all women. nangarhar had already suffered the loss of malala maiwand, a well—known presenter at enikas tv. she was a role model for young women who wrote her fan mail. the attack on malala was claimed by the so—called islamic state. in her murder, afghanistan lost another person standing up for women's rights, and a family lost a loved one. the white house has now announced the withdrawal of troops will be delayed by six months to the symbolic date of september 11. the future of afghanistan now rests on the talks between the afghan government and the taliban. but with no settlement in sight and if targeted killings continue, the fear is that the next generation may be just too intimidated to aspire to become thejournalists, human rights workers, and civil activists of tomorrow. after the record temperatures at new year's eve and new year's day the week ahead is going to feel very different. it is turning colder. nothing exceptionally cold just the sort of weather we should be getting really at this time of year. the first signs of that colder air arrives in northern scotland by the morning, follows a band of wet weather that will continue to move its way southwards. ahead of that for much of the uk it is a mild start. and for england and wales they'll be some sunshine, a few blustery showers. that band of wet weather moves south across scotland, a little sleet and snow in the hills, turns weather across northern ireland, some rain arrives into the far north of england. and to the north of that with the northerly wind the air is getting colder. across most of england and wales we got one more day of mild weather with temperatures in double figures. but instead of the southerly winds that brought those high temperatures over the new year, it's a northerly wind that's going to come pushing down across the whole of the country and drag that colder air southward as well. with the clearer skies developing overnight we'll have a frost in scotland, i think. in northern parts of england, perhaps northern ireland on tuesday morning. because the air is getting colder those showers in northern scotland are turning more to snow into low levels as well. it's over the higher level routes that there will be blizzards and drifting and gales or severe gales with the last of the milder and damp weather to clear away early on tuesday. then we are all in the colder air, cold northerly wind, a few wintry showers coming into some of the western parts of the uk. of course it will feel much colder. those temperatures can be quite a shock to the system when you consider how mild it has been of late. we start with a little more frost more widely on wednesday. those cold winds will tend to ease down, those wintry showers will move away, most places will turn dry and quite sunny. still on the chilly side although these temperatures are near normalfor this time of year. it will get cold very quickly during wednesday evening, wednesday night. ahead of the next weather system that's sweeping in from the atlantic. that will bring with it some stronger winds as it's moving into colder air, could be a bit of snow particularly in the hills in scotland. the band of wet weather continues to work its way eastward through the day. it will be followed by some sunshine and showers. strong and gusty winds around as well, could make double figures in the south. no signs of anything any warmer across northern parts of the uk. this is bbc news. i'm david eades. our top stories: one of the world's leading conservationists, richard leakey, who helped prove that humans evolved in africa, has died aged 77. thousands protest against the military regime in sudan — the prime minister resigns urging coup leaders to return to democracy. america's top covid expert, antony fauci, warns there's a danger of a surge in people needing hospital treatment. a huge fire destroys south africa's national assembly — a man is charged with arson. this is a very sad day for our democracy because parliament is the home of our democracy.

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