A former Afghan MP was killed in Kabul. Her friend worries she won't be the last

When the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan, thousands of people fled for their lives — but Mursal Nabizada chose to stay.

Nabizada was a former member of Afghanistan's parliament from 2019 until the Taliban took power in 2021 and drove women out of politics. 

She was a vocal critic of the ruling Taliban, and worked for the Institute for Human Resources Development and Research, a non-governmental organization (NGO).

When the Taliban banned women from working at NGOs last month, Nabizada started to seriously consider leaving the country, according to her friend and former colleague, Fawzia Koofi, who exchanged text messages with her last month.

But she would never get the chance. Nabizada was shot dead in her Kabul home on Sunday by an unknown gunman. Her bodyguard was also killed in the attack, and her brother was injured. Police say they are investigating. 

Koofi — a women's rights activist and former Afghan MP now living in exile in the U.K. — says she's worried about the safety of other former female lawmakers who are either still in Afghanistan, or stuck in limbo in third countries waiting to claim asylum somewhere safe. 

Here is part of her conversation with As It Happens Nil Köksal. 

When [Nabizada] spoke to you last month, did she have a sense of that something like this could have happened?

I don't think she knew particularly that there is a real ... target to her life. But everyone who lives in Afghanistan, they know that the situation is very unpredictable, especially when it comes to their security.

But she was very disappointed [in] the fact that women are facing this level of gender apartheid and suppression from the de facto power, that they are no longer able to work. So it was not even about her security. Like most of us, honestly, it's no longer about our security. It's about our country. 

I was going to ask you if you thought, or if she told you ... she was frightened. But it sounds like there's no time to even think of those things.

In one of her voice messages, she said: Afghanistan is not like a restaurant — that if I don't like the menu, I leave and go to another restaurant. It's my country. I have been here for the good days and for the bad days.

So that indicated all of our commitment, and her commitment, to the future of a progressive Afghanistan. But, unfortunately, our enemies don't like — and don't want — committed women to be alive and to be active.

Knowing your last conversations and your text messages, and that she wanted to get out, what was it like for you to learn what had happened?

I don't really forgive myself.

One of ... her close friends texted me yesterday, and I still have a text message. She was also a member of parliament. She said … Mursal is killed, and the next might be me.

If anything happened to her ... I'm not going to forgive the rest of our allies and partners. Because it's not that we have not reached out to any country. I have sent emails, text messages to my contacts to help these women who are in Kabul and those who are in Pakistan and Iran. And they need to get out.

You know that it's not your fault, though.

It is not. But as somebody who has put so much of my energy, including my blood, I really wanted to see a different Afghanistan. So sometimes it's heart wrenching to see this is happening.

Is that why you're in London right now? To try to get more help for the women of Afghanistan?

We had a meeting in the House of Lords today in the U.K. to raise awareness about what's happening, to engage with policymakers from the U.S., U.K. [and] EU, and to bring them on the same page as we are. 

I know there is less appetite from the world about what's happening in Afghanistan, but we will not give up. We will continue until we change the situation in our country.

What responsibility do you think countries such as Canada ... bear for helping get these women out?

I think Canada has really been helpful, so I must say we're grateful for that. And also their position about not sending money to the Taliban is something we greatly appreciate.

But I think the job is not done. I think Canada, U.S., U.K., Europe ... must now think and look at Afghanistan from a strategic point of view beyond humanitarian aid and assistance. I think we have to all work for a different political ecosystem. Because without that, nothing will change.

I think the world must obviously support these women, especially former politicians and parliamentarians. Not many of them have left. A few of them [are] in Kabul and a few of them [are] in Pakistan and Iran. I think we really need to arrange a special flight or something for them. 

What, specifically, would you like to see Canada do next?

First bring these women out of Afghanistan and from the region, because they are at risk. And there is no question about that. Somebody will just go and kill them and then nobody will take responsibility. When I was, for instance, targeted and my hand was wounded a few years back, nobody took any responsibility. This situation continues, the phenomenon of a culture of impunity. 

And the second priority is: How can we really change the political situation in Afghanistan? Work on an alternative — [a] women-centric alternative. Because [the] women of Afghanistan are now leading this fight, inside Afghanistan and outside Afghanistan. So we must work with them, recognize them as a partner for political change.

[In] your conversations in the House of Lords, the meetings that you had, did you get any signals or any concrete pledges to reassure you?

No one would like to give any concrete messages. Everybody issues statements, sympathetic words. But I think we are done with those sympathetic words. 

We really are so frustrated that we want action. We are united. As women, we are united. Now put us as stakeholders. As we are fighting, recognize us as a stakeholder. 

Pressure [the] Taliban to agree for a political set-up, because they feel that they are the only winners, while they came to power because of the ground that was prepared for them by the international community. So give us the same ground.

We are all very, very disappointed and frustrated. 

With files from The Associated Press. Interview produced by Morgan Passi. Q&A edited for length and clarity.