As an MP in the previous Western-backed government, she had refused to flee Afghanistan when the Taliban took power in August 2021.
A former Afghan lawmaker and one of her bodyguards were killed by gunmen at their home in Kabul on Saturday night, police reported on Sunday. Mursal Nabizada, who had been an MP under the previous Western-backed government, had refused to flee Afghanistan when the Taliban took power in August 2021.
She was shot dead overnight by unknown assailants, police spokesman Khalid Zadran told reporters. One of his brothers was also injured in the attack, the same source said in a press release. Security forces have launched an investigation to try to “find and bring the perpetrators to justice,” the police spokesman added.
A “real pioneer”
Mursal Nabizada, 32, from Nangarhar Province (East), was elected MP for Kabul in 2018. The business administration graduate completed her schooling in neighboring Pakistan, Peshawar, before returning to Afghanistan. His former parliamentary colleague Mariam Solaimankhil paid tribute to a “true pioneer”. “A strong, outspoken woman who stood up for what she believed in, even in the face of danger,” she tweeted.
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“Although she was offered the opportunity to leave Afghanistan, she chose to stay and fight for her people,” Mariam Solaimankhil said. Mursal Nabizada “was killed in the dark but the #Taliban are building their gender apartheid system in broad daylight,” German environmentalist Hannah Neumann responded in a tweet, saying she was “sad” and “with anger.”
Heavy restrictions since Taliban return
During the two decades of US-led military intervention in Afghanistan, women rose to important positions throughout Afghan society, many becoming judges, journalists, police officers or entering politics. However, most of them have fled the country since the Taliban took power in August 2021.
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Since their return, the latter have imposed severe restrictions on Afghan women, dismissing them from public jobs, banning them from attending secondary schools and universities, or going to parks. They also ordered women to cover themselves in public, ideally with a burqa (full veil).