Former Afghan MP shot dead

Afghan Police confirmed that a former Afghan MP, Mursal Nabizada, 32, and her bodyguard were shot dead at her home in the capital Kabul.

Nabizada was one of the few female M.Ps who stayed in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. In the attack on Sunday, her brother and a second security guard were also wounded.

“Fearless champion for Afghanistan who turned down a chance to leave the country,” words from Nabizada’s former colleagues. Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, they have removed women from nearly all areas of public life.

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Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said security forces had started a serious investigation into the incident. Former lawmaker Mariam Solaimankhil noted in a Twitter post that;

A true trailblazer – a 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. We have lost a diamond, but her legacy will live on. Rest in peace. https://t.co/g0HjMPicl5

— Mariam Solaimankhil (@Mariamistan) January 15, 2023

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 built their system of gender apartheid in full daylight.”

Abdullah Abdullah, a former top official in Afghanistan’s former Western-backed government, said Ms Nabizada’s death saddened him and hoped the perpetrators would be punished. He described her as a “representative and servant of the people.” After the US-led invasion two decades ago, many women who had prominent professional jobs in Afghanistan fled the country after the Taliban returned to power.

BBC/S.O