Afghan girl shoots two Taliban fighters who killed her parents

AN AFGHAN girl gunned down two Taliban fighters and wounded several more after they dragged her parents from their home and killed them for supporting the government.

The incident happened last week when insurgents stormed the home of Qamar Gul, a teenager from a village in the central province of Ghor.

Qamar has become a viral sensation after a photograph of her holding a machine gun in her lap was shared across social media.

The fighters were looking for her father, local police chief Habiburahman Malekzada told the AFP news agency.

Her father was the village chief and a government supporter, which is why the Taliban fighters went to his house and dragged him out, Mr Malekzada said. When his wife resisted, the Taliban fighters killed them both outside their home, he added.

“Qamar Gul, who was inside the house, took an AK-47 gun that the family had and first shot dead the two Taliban fighters who killed her parents, and then injured a few others,” he said.

Qamar is aged between 14 and 16, according to different officials. It is common for many Afghans not to know their own precise age.

Several more Taliban fighters later came to the village to attack the teenager’s house but villagers and pro-government militiamen reportedly expelled them after a gunfight.

Afghan security forces have now taken Qamar and her younger brother to a safer place, said Mohamed Aref Aber, spokesman for the provincial governor.

Since the incident, social media platforms have been flooded with praise for Qamar’s “heroic” act.

“Hats off to her courage! Well done,” wrote Najiba Rahmi on Facebook.

“Power of an Afghan girl,” wrote another Facebook user, Fazila Alizada.

“We know parents are irreplaceable, but your revenge will give you relative peace,” said Mohamed Saleh in his post on Facebook.

The Taliban regularly kill villagers who they suspect of being informers for the government or for the security forces.

In recent months, the militants have also stepped up their attacks against security forces despite agreeing to peace talks with Kabul.