Another female police officer in Afghanistan shot
By Associated Press on Sep 16, 2013, at 2:28 AM Updated on 9/16/13 at 6:05 AM
Afghan policewomen attend their graduation ceremony last year in Herat, west of Kabul, Afghanistan. Associated Press file
US & World
Washington Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis complained to police in Rhode Island last month that people were talking to him through the walls and ceilings of his hotel rooms and sending microwave vibrations into his body.
The gunman in the mass shootings at the Washington Navy Yard, Aaron Alexis, had a history of violent outbursts, and was at least twice accused of firing guns in anger.
Gunmen shot the top female police officer in a troubled southern Afghan province Sunday, leaving her facing possible paralysis just months after her predecessor was killed, government and hospital authorities said. It was the latest in a series of attacks on prominent women in Afghanistan, where just 1 percent of the police force is female.
The officer, identified only as Negar, was buying grass for her lambs outside her home when two gunmen drove up on a motorbike and fired at her, said Omar Zawak, a spokesman for the governor of Helmand province.
The 38-year-old suffered a bullet wound to the neck, and the medical team treating her was trying to keep her from being paralyzed as a result of the injury, said one of the doctors who operated on her. He gave him name only as Shahwali.
Negar serves in the police investigation department in Helmand province. She had taken over the duties of Islam Bibi, a well-known police officer who was shot dead in July by gunmen as she headed to work. Bibi had told reporters she had even been threatened by male members of her own family for her job.
In August, insurgents ambushed the convoy of a female Afghan senator, seriously wounding her in the attack and killing her 8-year-old daughter and a bodyguard.
Female police officers seem to be a favorite target of insurgents. Lt. Col. Malalai Kakar, who was perhaps the best-known female officer, in the country, was shot dead by the Taliban in 2008.
US & World
Washington Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis complained to police in Rhode Island last month that people were talking to him through the walls and ceilings of his hotel rooms and sending microwave vibrations into his body.
The gunman in the mass shootings at the Washington Navy Yard, Aaron Alexis, had a history of violent outbursts, and was at least twice accused of firing guns in anger.
