Afghan woman shot and stabbed in eyes for getting job

Local authorities believe Taliban was behind attack

Khatera, 33, was blinded in an attack by gunmen in Ghazni province, Afghanistan. (REUTERS)

A 33-year-old woman in Afghanistan has been shot at and stabbed in the eyes for working, amid a spate of attacks against women in the country in recent months. 

Khatera, who goes by one name, had been a police officer in Ghazni province for three months when the incident took place, leaving her blind.

The local authorities and Khatera herself have claimed the Taliban were responsible for the attack that was carried out by three men on a motorbike.

A Taliban spokesman denied the group’s involvement in the assault, adding that it was a family issue.

Khatera’s father, who reportedly disapproved of her taking a job, was taken into custody following the assault, police said.

"Many times, as I went to duty, I saw my father following me...he started contacting the Taliban in the nearby area and asked them to prevent me from going to my job," she told Reuters.

She added that her father had given a copy of her ID card to local members of the Taliban, while mentioning that on the day of the attack he had contacted her numerous times to ask for her location.

The news agency was unable to reach Khatera’s father for comment.

Khatera and some of her relations now live in hiding in Kabul and are not in contact with their extended family, who blame her for her father’s arrest. She hopes that one day, with the help of foreign doctors, her eyesight could return.

"If it is possible, I get back my eyesight, I will resume my job and serve in the police again," Khatera said.

In the last few months, a series of high-profile women have also been targeted, including Saba Sahar, one of the country’s first female film directors, and Fawzia Koofi, a politician who is part of the government’s negotiations with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar. Both women survived the assassination attempts in August.

Speaking about the rising number of gender-based attacks, Samira Hamidi, Amnesty International's Afghanistan campaigner, said: "Though the situation for Afghan women in public roles has always been perilous, the recent spike in violence across the country has made matters even worse.

“The great strides made on women's rights in Afghanistan over more than a decade must not become a casualty of any peace deal with the Taliban.”

Additional reporting by Reuters