Afghan demonstrators hold pictures Friday of the late Sitara Achakzai during a rally against the death of the women's-rights advocate, who was killed in Kandahar city a week ago. (Allauddin Khan/Associated Press)

A memorial was held Sunday at a Toronto-area mosque for a women's-rights advocate who was killed in southern Afghanistan a week ago.

Sitara Achakzai, a member of Kandahar's provincial council, was killed last Sunday when four gunmen on motorcycles opened fire as she got out of her car outside her home in Kandahar city. Qari Yousef Ahmedi, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Achakzai's mother, two sisters and extended family live in Markham, northeast of Toronto, and were present at the mosque Sunday for the memorial and prayers.

Achakzai, a dual German-Afghan citizen, spent the years of Taliban rule in Germany and returned to her native country five years ago to fight for women's rights, her relatives said.

Her niece, Maryam Maiwand, told CBC News that Achakzai last visited Canada three months ago and was due to return for a visit in May.

Last Thursday, two men were arrested in Afghanistan in connection with her death. But the Afghan Interior Ministry did not identify them and gave no further details about their arrests.