Gunmen shot dead Capt. Malalai Kakar, the first female to attend and graduate from the Qandahar Police Academy.
Kakar was killed as she was leaving her home Sunday morning, a government official told reporters.
The policewoman, who headed the Qandahar Police unit on crimes against women, was a mother of six. Since she joined the police force in Qandahar, a Taliban stronghold, she had received daily death threats.
The Taliban, who were ousted in late 2001 after the American-led invasion, have gained much power in the last few years, especially in the southern regions of the country.
When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, they decreed that women could not leave their homes. If women absolutely needed to go out, they had to wear clothes that covered their whole bodies, including their faces. Women, of course, were not allowed to work.
To a large extent, the situation in Qandahar and in many other regions in the country has not changed much since 2001. The reemerging of the Taliban as a strong force in Afghanistan’s southern areas has made it clear to women that in order to protect themselves they had to respect the Taliban’s rules.
Kakar’s local and international publicity as a women’s rights advocate angered the Taliban, who threatened to kill her many times.
Kakar was shot in the head; her son, who was with her, was badly wounded and is now in a coma.