I missed this earlier, but wanted to put it up. During a bad day or so in Afghanistan, prior to the suicide bomb today that killed 18, including Muslim pilgrims set to travel to Mecca, the Taliban shot dead Safia Ama Jan, 65, who had served as chief of the Woman’s Affairs department in Kandahar for five years and done much practical work for women’s rights.
Since the fall of the Taliban, the former teacher, had spent her time working to improve women’s rights and opportunities for education and vocational training.
According to a Herald Tribune report one of Ama Jan’s most successful projects was running vocational schools for women and in Kandahar alone Ama Jan had opened six schools.
She was killed yesterday by two Taliban terrorists who shot up the taxi she was travelling in.
In a call to Al-Jazeera (who else) a Taliban commander, Mullah Hayat Khan, said Ama Jan was killed because she worked for the government: “We have told people time and time again that anyone working for the government – including women – will be killed.”
