5 women die in gunfire in Afghanistan

Victims were airport employees riding in a van; Taliban denies role

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Gunmen in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar opened fire on a van carrying female airport employees Saturday morning, killing five women and their male driver, officials said.

The Afghan government has been struggling to expand opportunities for women in the workforce, but that effort has been hampered by strict conservative customs about the role of women in society and security threats posed by the conflict with the Taliban.

Samim Khapalwak, a spokesman for the governor of Kandahar, said two men on motorcycles stopped the van and fired on its occupants around 6:30 a.m. The women, who worked as contractors for a security company, helped screen passengers and luggage, Khapalwak said.

Abdul Ali Shamsi, deputy governor of the province, said: “These five women served the women of Kandahar and the female passengers at Kandahar airport, and they were martyred today by the cowardly enemy. This is not the first time the cowardly enemy has targeted defenseless and innocent women.”

Among those killed was Bibi Assilah, who had worked at the airport for two years, said her father, Khalil Ahmad.

“She was just 22, and she was also studying medicine at Malalai University,” Ah- mad said. “She was working to earn her university fees and fulfill her dreams, but the enemy of peace and humanity did not let her.”

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. The Taliban have denied that it was carried out by their fighters.

With the Taliban making gains in their insurgency and seizing control of territory from the government, opportunities for women in the Afghan workforce have shrunk. According to a recent report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, women listed lack of security as the biggest challenge to their advancement.

The government has repeatedly lowered its target for the number of women it aims to recruit into its security forces, but it has still struggled to meet the reduced goals. There are 877 women in the Afghan army and 2,866 in the Afghan police, and the intended target for each force has been lowered to 5,000 women, according to the report.

While more women have found work in education and health services, in provinces facing severe security risks, like Kandahar, jobs for women in civilian sectors also remain limited.

“We can say that in the Health Department about 13 percent of the staff is women, and in the Education Department around 30 percent,” said Khapalwak, the provincial governor’s spokesman. “In the rest of the departments, we have less than 5 percent female workers.”