“Fearless Champion”
Afghan ex-MPs assassinated in Kabul
01/15/2023, 06:01 p.m
Shots are fired in Afghanistan’s capital. Former MP Mursal Nabisada and her bodyguard are killed in the night’s attack. The perpetrator and motive are still unclear.
A former member of parliament and her bodyguard have been shot dead in the Afghan capital Kabul. Mursal Nabisada was shot dead “together with one of her bodyguards in her house” on Sunday night, police spokesman Chalid Sadran said. A brother of the ex-MP was injured in the attack.
Nabisada, 32, came from the eastern province of Nangarhar and was elected as a member of parliament from Kabul in 2018. Former MP Mariam Solaimanchil tweeted that she was a “fearless champion of Afghanistan” and a “true pioneer (…) who stood up for what she believed in, even in the face of danger.” Although she could have left Afghanistan, she decided to stay and fight for her people.
“I’m sad and angry”
“I am sad and angry and I want the world to know,” tweeted Hannah Neumann, Member of the European Parliament. Nabisada was killed in the dark, but the Taliban are “establishing their system of gender apartheid in broad daylight”. As the “FAZ” reports, Nabisada had spoken about four months ago in a TV interview about the restrictions on women’s rights by the ruling Taliban. However, it is still unclear whether the perpetrators come from these circles.
During the two decades of the US-led Stabilization Mission in Afghanistan, many women held important positions in the country, including judges, journalists and politicians. Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, women have been rapidly pushed out of almost every sphere of public life.
They have been banned from education, public sector jobs and even public parks, gyms and hammams. In addition, the Taliban have ordered women to cover themselves in public, if possible with a full-body veil; many wear the traditional burqa.