Former Afghan MP Mursal Nabizada shot dead at home in Kabul 

Mursal Nabizada, 32 – a former Afghan MP – has been shot dead at her home in Kabul, Afghan police have said.

She was one of the few female MPs who stayed in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in 2021 – after the US withdrew from Afghanistan. 

Nabizada was killed alongside her bodyguard. 

Her brother and a second security guard were wounded in the attack on Sunday. 

‘Fearless champion for Afghanistan’ 

She has been praised as a “fearless champion for Afghanistan” who turned down a chance to leave the country when the Taliban returned to power. 

Since their return to power, women have been removed from nearly all areas of public life. 

Kabul spokesman Khalid Zadran said a serious investigation into the incident has been started. 

Former lawmaker Mariam Solaimankhil took to Twitter to pay tribute, saying Ms Nabizada was “a true trailblazer – strong, outspoken woman who stood for what she believed in, even in the face of danger”.

“Despite being offered the chance to leave Afghanistan, she chose to stay and fight for her people,” she wrote on Twitter.

Mursal Nabizada political rise 

Mursal Nabizada was from Nangarhar. She was elected as an MP from Kabul in 2018 and stayed in power until the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021. 

She was a member of the parliamentary defence commission and worked at the Institute for Human Resources Development and Research. 

Hannah Neumann, a member of the European Parliament, said: “I am sad and angry and want the world to know!” in response to the killing.

“She was killed in darkness, but the Taliban build their system of gender apartheid in full daylight.”

May women who had prominent jobs in Afghanistan after the US-led invasion two decades ago fled the county after the Taliban returned to power.