Kabul:
Gunmen shot dead an Afghan former legislator and one of her bodyguards in the capital Kabul during a nighttime attack on her home, police said on Sunday.
Mursal Nabizada was a member of parliament in the US-backed government overthrown by the Taliban in August 2021.
“Nabizada was shot dead at her home along with one of her bodyguards,” Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said.
“The security forces have launched a serious investigation into the incident,” he said, adding that a brother of the former legislator was also injured in the attack, which took place on Saturday night.
Nabizada was a “fearless champion for Afghanistan,” former lawmaker Mariam Solaimankhil said on Twitter.
“A true pioneer – strong, outspoken woman who stood for what she believed in, even in the face of danger,” she wrote.
“Despite being given the opportunity to leave Afghanistan, she chose to stay and fight for her people,” she added.
Nabizada, 32, who hails from eastern Nangarhar province, was elected as a member of parliament from Kabul in 2018.
“I’m sad and angry and want the world to know!” Hannah Neumann, a member of the European Parliament, tweeted in response to the murder.
“She was killed in the dark, but the Taliban built their system of gender apartheid in broad daylight.”
Women had worked in prominent positions throughout Afghan society in the two decades since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, many becoming judges, journalists and politicians.
However, many women in such professions have fled the country since the Taliban’s return to power.
Taliban authorities have swiftly expelled women from almost all areas of public life, banning them from secondary and higher education, public sector work and even from visiting public parks and baths.
They have also ordered women to cover their bodies in public, preferably in an all-encompassing burqa.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
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