Instagram star Tara Fares was shot dead on Thursday in Iraq's capital, Baghdad.

Her death followed three other prominent, liberal Iraqi women to have died in recent months.

Human rights activist Suad al-Ali was shot dead in Basra on September 2, and in August two famous beauticians, one of whom was nicknamed "Iraq's Barbie", were found dead.

At least one prominent influencer has quit social media, fearing she may be next.

Tara Fares, a social media star who amassed 2.8 million followers with an array of photo shoots, beauty tips and life advice, was shot dead last Thursday on the streets of Baghdad in a brutal and seemingly unprovoked killing.

But her death is not a one-off, and appears to be part of a series of prominent, socially liberal Iraqi women to be killed or found dead in suspicious circumstances in recent months.

A post shared by Tara Fares | تاره فارس (@its.tarafares) May 16, 2017 at 4:23am PDT

Iraqi authorities arrested a suspect in the 22-year-old's killing, Kurdish news site Rudaw reported, but have yet to suggest a motive.

But activists in the country, members of the government, and foreign diplomats, have seen in their deaths a pattern of violence designed to frighten and intimidate women out of Iraqi public life.

Before Fares was killed — shot three times through her car window while driving — prominent human rights activist Suad al-Ali was also attacked and killed.

al-Ali was shot in the city of Basra, in a public marketplace. This Twitter tribute shows a picture of her:

al-Ali founded the al-Weed al-Alaiami for Human Rights, an NGO, according to the BBC.

In August, two prominent beauty brand owners were found dead only a week apart.

One of them, Rasha al-Hassan, was a beautician who owned the Viola salon in Baghdad. She was found dead on August 24 in her home. Little other information about her death has been made public.

The other, Rafeef al-Yasiri, 32, was known as "Iraq's Barbie" and was prominent on social media. She was found on August 17, a week before al-Hassan.

al-Yasiri was a plastic surgeon herself, and organized national programs specializing in medical affairs for women, CNN reported

This tweet shows images of all four women. Tara Fares is top left, Rafeef al-Yasiri is top right, Suad al-Ali is bottom left, and Rasha al-Hassan is bottom right.

—Ashlee Marie Preston (@AshleeMPreston) September 29, 2018

Authorities in Iraq appear to believe the killings are linked. On Friday the nation's prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, said he had asked the intelligence services to investigate links between the events, The New York Times reported.

Prominent women in Iraq have seen in the killings a message: stay out of public life.

Hanaa Edwar, the founder of human rights group the Iraqi al-Amal Association said the murders are "threatening messages sent to activists in particular, but also to the whole of society," the BBC reported.

"Attacking women who are public figures is a bid to force them to shut themselves away at home," she added.

An interior ministry spokesman discussing the deaths also said that the attackers appear to want to "send threatening messages."

Britain’s ambassador to Iraq, John Wilks, issued a statement on Sunday saying: "Violence against women and the attempt by men to dominate women by force will weaken Iraq in every sense. Both halves of the team need to play a full part for Iraq to thrive and be strong again," Rudaw reported.

The threats appear to be working.

Shimaa Qasim, who won a Miss Iraq beauty contest in 2015 and has 2.7 million Instagram followers, said in a YouTube video on Sunday that she has quit social media after receiving death threats saying "you're next," The Baghdad Post said.