Former Afghan MP Mursal Nabizada and her bodyguard were shot dead on Sunday in her home in Kabul, reported the BBC. Nabizada was among the few female lawmakers who had stayed in Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the country in 2021.
Nabizada’s brother and another bodyguard were also injured in the attack.
The politician represented the eastern province of Nangarhar and was elected in 2018, when the United States-backed Hamid Karzai government was in power.
Former lawmaker Mariam Solaimankhil remembered Nabizada as a “true trailblazer” and said that her legacy will live on. “Despite being offered the chance to leave Afghanistan, she chose to stay and fight for her people,” Solaimankhil said on Twitter.
Member of the European Parliament, Hannah Neumann said that she was “sad and angry” to hear about Nabizada’s death.
“She was killed in darkness, but the Taliban build their system of Gender Apartheid in full daylight,” Neumann tweeted.
Since the insurgent group took over Afghanistan, women in the country have been banned from work places, and education institutions.
Last month, the Taliban government had ordered an indefinite ban on university education for all female students in the country. The Taliban administration had also asked all local and international non-governmental organisations to stop their female employees from coming to work.
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