Sunday Times 2
Female Afghan MP injured but defiant after suicide attack
View(s):KABUL, Nov 22 (AFP) -Afghan women’s rights campaigner Shukria Barakzai speaks in a tired whisper as she recovers in hospital from an assassination attempt that nearly killed her a week ago, but her message is strong and clear.
“I don’t want the women of Afghanistan to be scared,” she told AFP at her bedside in Kabul.
Afghan member of Parliament Shukria Barakzai interacts with her children Turan (C) and Usman (R) as she recuperates at a government hospital in Kabul (AFP)
“I am waiting for my recovery and I will go back (to work). And this time I will work even harder than before.
“This attack was an attack on all women in Afghanistan — this is not only on me.” Barakzai, a 41-year-old member of parliament, staggered from the wrecked remains of her car after it was hit by a suicide bomber on a main road near the parliament last Sunday.
She was still carrying her mobile phone and handbags as she was led away to safety, and she appeared to have not been seriously injured.
But the huge impact of the blast, which killed three nearby civilians, took its toll and she is being treated for shock as well as for burns on her left hand.
Barakzai is one of the most prominent female activists in Afghanistan, where women’s rights have been at the centre of radical changes during 13 years of international intervention since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.
Women, who were confined to the home and forced to wear all-encompassing burqas under the Taliban, have secured more freedoms, but Barakzai’s pro-equality stance has earned her a lot of enemies.
“I had lots of threats, but this one was (nearly) successful,” she said on Friday, sitting up in her bed with her outstretched hand covered in medical gauze.
She says she doesn’t know who targeted her, but wonders if it could be related to her support for some US troops staying in Afghanistan after NATO combat operations finish at the end of the year.
Or perhaps it might be elements in neighbouring Pakistan, which is often accused of fuelling violence in Afghanistan.
“I’m outspoken, I’m very clear,” she said. “I would be very surprised if Pakistan supports my activities.” Whoever was to blame, Barakzai said she is determined to protect and advance women’s rights even as the multi-billion-dollar international development effort since 2001 declines in the coming years.
“I’m optimistic for the future of the country. I believe things will get back on track,” she said.
| Obama extends US combat role in Afghanistan WASHINGTON, Nov 22 (AFP) -Barack Obama has extended the combat role for US troops in Afghanistan for another year, in a classified order he signed in recent weeks, the New York Times reported Friday. Previously, the president had said US-led NATO combat operations would finish at the end of this year. But in a strategic shift, the New York Times said, Obama signed an order authorising US troops through 2015 to carry out missions against militant groups, including the Taliban, that threaten them or the Afghan government. |