A teenage girl in Afghanistan is being lauded for her bravery after officials say she killed three Taliban fighters who murdered her parents in front of her.
The tragic incident occurred last week when dozens of militants stormed the village of Geriveh, located in the Ghor province of central Afghanistan. Qamar Gul, believed to be between 14 and 16, was at home with her parents and 12-year-old brother when militants knocked on the family’s door at 1 a.m. local time.
Mohamed Aref Aber, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said that Gul’s mother refused to let the men inside the house and was promptly shot dead by the militants. The Taliban then killed her father, who, according to Agence France-Presse, was the village chief. Gul reactively grabbed her slain father’s AK-47 and put up a fight, beginning an hourlong gun battle.
Despite other Taliban fighters descending upon the residence, pro-government militia fighters were able to push them back from Gul’s home. Gul and her little brother were later taken to a safe location.
“They were in shock in the first two days and could not talk too much, but are in a good condition now,” Aber recalled, according to the Guardian. “They are saying: ‘This was our right, because we did not need to live without our parents.’ They don’t have many relatives other than a half-brother who lives in the same village.”
All over the world, women must defend themselves.
Qamar Gul, a young woman from Afghanistan shot 2 taliban fighters and injured several, after the taliban’s killed three members of her family.#JinJiyanAzadi pic.twitter.com/NtmEa1meF3— Kongra Star Women’s Movement Rojava (@starrcongress) July 21, 2020
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani invited the children to the presidential palace to honor them for their bravery, and District Gov. Mohammad Rafiq Alam praised their strength in the face of such adversity.
“When I saw them that night, they were shocked but were feeling honored,” Alam said.
The Afghan government, led by Ghani, has been grappling with stalled and protracted peace talks with the Taliban. The terrorist group has continued to attack government forces and supporters despite the peace deal it signed with the United States in February. Lawmakers both in the U.S. and abroad have expressed concerns that the Taliban might try to seize control of the country when the U.S. fully withdraws from the region.
