Former Afghan woman MP shot dead at Kabul home

A former Afghan member of parliament and her bodyguard were shot dead by unidentified attackers at her home in Afghan capital Kabul. Mursal Nabizada was one of the few female parliamentarians who  had decided to stay back in Kabul after the Taliban stormed to power in August 2021.

Local police chief Molvi Hamidullah Khalid told the media that her brother and a second security guard were injured while the third guard fled with money and jewellery.

This is the first incident in which a lawmaker from the previous administration has been killed in the city since the takeover. Nabizada and her guard were shot dead around 3am on Saturday in the same room on the first floor of her home.

Nabizada, who was elected from Kabul in 2019 and stayed as MP till the Taliban takeover, also worked at a NGO – the Institute for Human Resources Development and Research.

Her murder comes at a time when the Taliban government is under sustained pressure from the country’s women over its policies banning women from getting education, playing sports, going out of homes without a male escort and going to offices to work.