Qamar Gul regrets that he was unable to say goodbye to his mother and father.
Ghazni, Afghanistan:
A young Afghan girl who shot dead two Taliban fighters after she shot her parents said she was ready to face any other insurgents who might try to attack her.
Qamar Gul, 15, killed the militants when they stormed his home last week in a remote village in central Ghor province.
“I no longer fear them and am ready to fight them again,” Gul told AFP by phone from a relative’s home, where she was watched by guards.
A photo of Gul posing with a gun has circulated online, with many praising his actions and calling for his safe passage out of the country.
It was around midnight when the Taliban arrived, Gul said, recounting the events of that night.
She was sleeping in her room with her 12-year-old brother when she heard the noise of men pushing on their house door.
“My mom ran to stop them, but by then they had already broken down the door,” Gul said.
“They took my mom and dad outside and shot them several times. I was terrified.”
But moments later, “the anger took over.”
“I picked up the gun we had at home, went to the door and shot them,” said Gul, who was taught to shoot an AK-47 assault rifle by his father.
His brother intervened when one of the insurgents, who appeared to be the leader of the group, attempted to retaliate.
“My brother took the gun from me and hit him. The fighter ran away injured, only to come back later,” Gul said.
By this time, several villagers and pro-government militiamen had arrived at the house. The Taliban finally fled after a long exchange of fire.
‘Proud’
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the murders at Gul’s home also involved a family feud – and that one of the attackers was Gul’s own husband.
The newspaper, citing Gul’s relatives and officials, said he was seeking his “forced return” after a falling out with his family.
Officials told AFP that the Taliban came to kill Gul’s father, who was the village chief, because he supported the government.
Insurgents regularly kill villagers whom they suspect to be informants for the government or security forces, Taywara district, where the remote village of Gul is located, the scene of almost daily clashes between government forces and the Taliban.
“I am proud to have killed the murderers of my parents,” she said. “I killed them because they killed my parents, and also because I knew they would come for me and my little brother.”
Gul regrets not being able to say goodbye to his mother and father.
“After killing the two Taliban, I went to talk to my parents, but they were no longer breathing,” she said. “I feel sad I couldn’t speak to them one last time.”
Hundreds of people on social media are asking the government to protect her, with some calling for her to be sent out of Afghanistan.
“I demand that the president help him transfer her to a safe place because her safety and that of her family are at risk,” women’s rights activist and former MP Fawzia Koofi wrote on Facebook.
Munera Yousufzada, a Defense Ministry official, said Gul’s “courageous act” was a message to the Taliban from Afghan women.
“The Taliban must realize and know that women today are different from the women under their rule,” she said on Twitter.
“If you really want to protect her, send her abroad. If she comes to Kabul even for two days … she will be killed,” Zoya Amini, a resident of Kabul, wrote on Facebook.
President Ashraf Ghani also praised Gul for “defending his family against a ruthless enemy,” spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP.
A Taliban spokesperson confirmed that an operation took place in the area of the attack, but denied that one of the group’s fighters was killed by a woman.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
