A former Afghan parliamentarian and his bodyguard have been shot dead at their home in the capital, Kabul, Afghan police said.
Mursal Nabzada, 32, was one of the few female MPs who remained in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in August 2021.
His brother and another security guard were injured in the attack on Sunday.
Former colleagues hailed Ms Nabzada as a “fearless champion for Afghanistan” who turned down the chance to leave the country.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, women have been excluded from almost all spheres of public life.
Kabul Police Spokesman Khalid Zadran said that the security forces have started a serious investigation into the incident.
Former lawmaker Maryam Sulaiman Khel said Ms Nabizada was “a true trailblazer – a strong, courageous woman who stood up for it despite danger”.
“Despite the opportunity to leave Afghanistan, She chose to stay and fight for his people,” She wrote on Twitter.
Hailing from the eastern province of Nangarhar, Ms. Nabizada was elected as a Member of Parliament from Kabul in 2018 and remained in power until the Taliban took over.
She was a member of the Parliamentary Defense Commission and worked at the Institute for Human Resource Development and Research.
Hannah Newman, a member of the European Parliament, said: “I’m sad and angry and want the world to know!” in response to murder.
“She was killed in the dark, but the Taliban are building their system of gender discrimination in broad daylight.”
Abdullah Abdullah, a former top official in Afghanistan’s former Western-backed government, said he was saddened by Ms Nabizada’s death and hoped the perpetrators would be punished.
She described her as a “representative and servant of the people”.
Many women who held prominent professional jobs in Afghanistan after the US-led invasion two decades ago fled the country after the Taliban returned to power.
