Former Afghan female MP Mursal Nabizada shot dead in Kabul home

January 15, 2023

Bodyguard also killed at home of one of few female parliamentarians who stayed in Kabul after Taliban takeover

A woman looks at a picture on her mobile phone of the former lawmaker Mursal Nabizada, who has been shot dead. Photograph: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images

By The Associated Press in Kabul

A former Afghan MP and her bodyguard have been shot dead by unknown assailants at her home in the capital, Kabul, police have said.

Mursal Nabizada was among the few female parliamentarians who stayed in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. It is the first time an MP from the previous administration has been killed in the city since the takeover.

The local police chief, Molvi Hamidullah Khalid, said on Sunday that Nabizada and her guard were shot dead about 3am on Saturday in the same room. He said her brother and a second security guard were injured. A third security guard fled the scene with money and jewellery.

She died on the first floor of her home, which she used as her office. Khalid said investigations were under way. He did not answer questions about possible motives.

Abdullah Abdullah, who was a top official in Afghanistan’s former 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”.

The former Kandahar parliamentarian Malalai Ishaqzai also offered her condolences.

Nabizada was elected in 2019 to represent Kabul and stayed in office until the Taliban takeover. She was a member of the parliamentary defence commission and worked at a private non-governmental group, the Institute for Human Resources Development and Research.