Former female Afghan MP shot dead in Kabul - police

By REUTERS

Published: JANUARY 16, 2023 06:56

An Afghan woman and a girl walk in a street in Kabul, Afghanistan, November 9, 2022 (photo credit: ALI KHARA/REUTERS) — An Afghan woman and a girl walk in a street in Kabul, Afghanistan, November 9, 2022

(photo credit: ALI KHARA/REUTERS)

Mursal Nabizada was a lawmaker in Afghanistan until the Taliban took over in 2021.

A former female member of Afghanistan's parliament has been killed by unknown gunmen at her home in Kabul, police said.

Mursal Nabizada and her guard were shot dead and her brother was injured in Sunday's attack, police said.

"The security forces have started a serious investigation regarding the case to find the criminals," police said in a statement.

A woman formerly in power

Nabizada had been a lawmaker until the Taliban took over as foreign forces withdrew in 2021, when many politicians fled the country.

Nabizada had been elected as a member of the lower house of parliament in 2018 to represent Kabul, according to local broadcaster Tolo.

Afghan female students walk near Kabul University in Kabul, Afghanistan, December 21, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/ALI KHARA)

The Taliban have said they said they are focused on securing the country and encouraging Afghans to return, but several attacks have taken place in recent months, including one at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week that killed and wounded dozens of people and was claimed by Islamic State.

In December, one person was killed in a suicide bomb attack near the Kabul office of the Hezb-e-Islami party, while its leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who was Afghanistan's Prime Minister in the 1990s, was inside.