GHAZNI -- An Afghan girl fatally shot two Taliban fighters and wounded several more after they dragged her parents from their home and killed them for supporting the government, officials said.
The incident happened last week when insurgents stormed the home of Qamar Gul, a teenager from a village in Ghor Province.
The fighters were looking for her father, the village chief, local police head Habiburahman Malekzada told AFP.
Her father was a government supporter, which is why the Taliban fighters went to his house and dragged him out, he said.
When his wife resisted, the Taliban fighters killed the couple outside their home, according to Malekzada.
"Qamar Gul, who was inside the house, took an AK-47 gun the family had and first shot dead the two Taliban fighters who killed her parents, and then injured a few others," he said.
Gul is between 14 and 16 years old, according to different officials. It is common for many Afghans not to know their precise age.
Several other Taliban fighters later came to attack her house, but some villagers and pro-government militiamen expelled them after a gunfight.
Afghan security forces have taken Gul and her younger brother to a safer place, said Muhammad Arif Aaber, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
Praise for her courage
Since the incident, social media networks have been flooded with praise for Gul's "heroic" act.
A photograph of Gul, wearing a headscarf and holding a machine gun across her lap, has gone viral in the past few days.
"Hats off to her courage! Well done," wrote Najiba Rahmi on Facebook. "Power of an Afghan girl," wrote Fazila Alizada, another Facebook user.
"We know parents are irreplaceable, but your revenge will give you relative peace," Muhammad Saleh wrote in his post on Facebook.
The Taliban regularly kill villagers whom they suspect of being informers for the government or security forces.
In recent months, the militants have stepped up their attacks against security forces despite agreeing to peace talks with Kabul.
From the media, I heard the painful incident of the brave and courageous girl of a family in Ghor. Ghor has been an unconquerable province which has preserved freedom, prides and native courage throughout its history, and has never given up to abjection, enslavement and colonialism. Ghor has been a strong fort against Taliban, and the people of Ghor stood and defended every valley and peak of the province. And also Ghor was the first province which attacked angrily and liberated the cities of Firozkoh and also Cheghcheran within a month after the martyrdom of the National Hero of the country. Undoubtedly, the courage of 16-year-old girl who witnessed his parents’ martyrdom in Tayawara District is praiseworthy. Both sister and brother took the gun and murdered the killers, and they defended their families courageously till dawn. With regret and pain, I congratulate and express my condolence on the martyrdom of the parents of this family to survivors of the family and the history making and prideful people of Ghor. I wish paradise for the parents of the family.
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Ms. Qamar Gul will be deprived of her right like others. She will finally become a police for women’s searching. And from now on, she will become familiar with the culture of sexual slavery.
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The government should find a way for her to go out of the country and continue her study there. She will not be safe here. It is a pity that no one cares about such a brave woman.
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It is said that Ms. Qamar Gul has murdered her husband.
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I hope that a national reconciliation, national compromise and peace agreement will have been made in this country by then and Qamar Gul and others like her will be forgiven by all. Only Qamar Gul’s life is not at risk; from the rich to common people of this country lose their lives for even a mobile phone which values AFN 5 thousand by the robbers. According to a famous quote, (everyone eats according to their own deeds). Our deeds and intentions are bad that we witness and face with such a plight. We were not taught from our childhood what the meaning of conscience is. Conscience is something that we should learn from our parents, as what we should do and what we should not do. They didn't tell us from our childhood what to do and what not. So, as long as there is this same foreigners’ slavery, our plight will be the same. You should not expect any betterment.
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Malala Yousufzai became a champion with a pen, and Qamar Gul became a champion with a gun. Both of them have the same adventures (dealing with Taliban), but the former has graduated from the Oxford University, and the later may spend half of her life in a safe house. Ms. Yousufzai will return a few years later, and may become the Prime Minister. How do you anticipate the fate of Qamar Gul? Will she be provided opportunity to get her education and higher education? Will she find her way to Oxford University!? With respect, Jaamay
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Courage and braveness of this girl is really commendable. The government should give cash prize to this girl.
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The government should support the girl and her brother, and provide them their livelihood, because they lost the breadwinner of their family.
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It shows braveness of an Afghan woman, as Afghan women have fought and given sacrifices throughout the history of Afghanistan beside the men of this country for the freedom and independence of the country. Long live the brave and courageous women of the country.
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This girl is really a champion. Besides being appreciated, her security should be taken and she should be brought to Kabul or sent abroad, because Taliban will not leave her a life.
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