- Nabizada, a former member of parliament in the U.S.-backed government, was killed by assailants at her home, police said.
A former Afghan lawmaker and one of her bodyguards were killed in their home in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, police said.
Mursal Nabizada had been a member of parliament in the US-backed government that was deposed by the Taliban in August 2021. She was one of the few parliamentarians who remained in Kabul after the Taliban seized power.
“Nabizada, along with one of her bodyguards, was shot dead in her home,” Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said Sunday.
“Security forces have launched a serious investigation into the incident,” he said.
The shooting happened around 3 am on Sunday (22:30 GMT on Saturday), according to local police Chief Molvi Hamidullah Khalid.
He said Nabizada’s brother and a second security guard were wounded and a third security guard fled the scene with money and jewelry.
Abdullah Abdullah, who was a senior official in Afghanistan’s previous Western-backed government, said he was saddened by Nabizada’s death and hoped the perpetrators would be punished. He described her as a “representative and servant of the people.”
Nabizada was chosen in 2019 to represent Kabul. He was a member of the parliamentary defense commission and worked in a private non-governmental group, the Institute for Human Resource Development and Research.
Former lawmaker Mariam Solaimankhil said on Twitter that Nabizada was a “courageous defender of Afghanistan.”
“A true pioneer: a strong and outspoken woman who stood up for what she believed in, even in the face of danger,” she wrote.
“Even though he was offered the opportunity to leave Afghanistan, he decided to stay and fight for his people,” Solaimankhil added.
European Parliament member Hannah Neumann tweeted: “I am sad and angry and I want the world to know!”
“She was killed in the dark, but the Taliban build their system of gender apartheid in broad daylight.”
Source: NEWS AGENCIES
