On Sunday, with the Taliban preparing to capture the capital Kabul, Zarifa Ghafari Afghanistan’s youngest mayor was waiting for the Taliban to come and kill her, she told iNews.
When Zarifa Ghafari spoke to iNews just three weeks ago from her Kabul apartment, she was hopeful that she – and her country – had a future.
Zarifa Ghafari, Afghanistan’s youngest mayor and the first female mayor in the Maidan Wardak province, told iNews that she was waiting for the Islamic militants to come and kill her.
Ghafari became mayor of the city of Maidan Sharh in 2018 and has been a women’s rights advocate for years, according to the Insider.
“I’m sitting here waiting for them to come. There is no one to help me or my family. I’m just sitting with them and my husband. And they will come for people like me and kill me. I can’t leave my family. And anyway, where would I go?” Ghafari told iNews on Sunday.
According to iNews, Ghafari, 27, rose to prominence in 2018 by becoming the youngest mayor in Afghanistan (and one of the first female first citizens) in Maidan Wardak province. The Taliban has frequently vowed to kill the articulate, politically influential female critic. Her father General Abdul Wasi Ghafari was gunned down on 15 November last year, just 20 days after the third attempt on her life failed.
With the Taliban resurgent and her public profile rising, Ms Ghafari was given a job in the relative safety of the defence ministry in Kabul, with responsibility for the welfare of soldiers and civilians injured in terror attacks, iNews writes.
“Younger people are aware of what’s happening. They have social media. They communicate. I think they will continue fighting for progress and our rights. I think there is a future for this country,” three weeks ago, Ms Ghafari told iNews.
On Sunday the Taliban’s chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid promised that the lives of women and opponents would be protected.
The insurgents said they’d offer an “amnesty” to those who worked with the Afghan government or foreign forces.
“No one’s life, property, and dignity will be harmed and the lives of the citizens of Kabul will not be at risk,” the Taliban said.
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