Monday, January 16, 2023

Tributes pour in for slain former Afghan female lawmaker

Mon, January 16, 2023

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Tributes poured in on Monday for a former Afghan female lawmaker who was shot and killed by gunmen in her home in the capital of Kabul the previous day. The slaying was the first time a lawmaker from the previous administration was killed in the city since the Taliban takeover.

Mursal Nabizada was among the few female parliamentarians who stayed in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. Police say one of her bodyguards was also killed in the attack on Sunday.

Karen Decker, the U.S. chargĂ© d’affaires for Afghanistan, tweeted: “Hold the perpetrators accountable!”

“Angered, heartbroken by murder of Mursal Nabizada – a tragic loss. I offer Mursal’s family my condolences and hope to see them receive justice for this senseless act," Decker also said in her tweet.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “shocked" by the killings of Nabizada and a bodyguard and “calls for a prompt, thorough, and transparent investigation and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice," U.N. associate spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay said.

Nabizada’s brother was also wounded in the attack, according to Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Kabul police chief in the Taliban administration. A police investigation was underway, he added.

Hannah Neumann, a member of the European parliament, also tweeted her condolences. “I am sad and angry and want the world to know! She was killed in darkness, but the Taliban build their system of Gender Apartheid in full daylight,” Neumann said.

Earlier, local police chief Hamidullah Khalid said another security guard had fled the scene with money and jewelry.

Abdullah Abdullah, a top official in Afghanistan’s former Western-backed government, said he was saddened by Nabizada’s death and hoped the perpetrators would be punished. He described her as a “representative and servant of the people.”

Nabizada was elected in 2019 to represent Kabul and stayed in office until the Taliban takeover. She was originally from eastern Nangarhar province. She also worked at a private non-governmental group, the Institute for Human Resources Development and Research.

After their takeover, the Taliban initially said they would not impose the same harsh rules over society as they did during their first rule of Afghanistan in the late 1990s.

But they have progressively imposed more restrictions, particularly on women. They have banned women and girls from schooling beyond the sixth grade, barred them from most jobs and demanded they cover their faces when outside.


Mursal Nabizada: Gunmen kill former Afghan MP at home in Kabul

Sun, January 15, 2023 

Mursal Nabizada was an MP until the Taliban takeover in 2021

A former Afghan MP and her bodyguard have been shot dead at her home in the capital Kabul, Afghan police have said.

Mursal Nabizada, 32, was one of the few female MPs who stayed in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

Her brother and a second security guard were wounded in the attack on Sunday.

Former colleagues praised Ms Nabizada as a "fearless champion for Afghanistan" who turned down a chance to leave the country.

Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, women have been removed from nearly all areas of public life.

Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said security forces had started a serious investigation into the incident.

Former lawmaker Mariam Solaimankhil said Ms Nabizada was "a true trailblazer - strong, outspoken woman who stood for what she believed in, even in the face of danger".

"Despite being offered the chance to leave Afghanistan, she chose to stay and fight for her people," she wrote on Twitter.

Ms Nabizada, from the eastern province of Nangarhar, was elected as a member of parliament from Kabul in 2018 and stayed in power until the Taliban takeover.

She was a member of the parliamentary defence commission and worked at the Institute for Human Resources Development and Research.

Hannah Neumann, a member of the European Parliament, said: "I am sad and angry and want the world to know!" in response to the killing.

"She was killed in darkness, but the Taliban build their system of gender apartheid in full daylight."

Abdullah Abdullah, a former top official in Afghanistan's former Western-backed government, said he was saddened by Ms Nabizada's death and hoped the perpetrators would be punished.

He described her as a "representative and servant of the people".

Many women who had prominent professional jobs in Afghanistan after the US-led invasion two decades ago fled the country after the Taliban returned to power.


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