Tragic death of the Afghan girl who just wanted to change her country: Student shot dead as she helped in fight against polio

Girl, known only as Anisa, was shot six times by gunmen outside her home in Kapisa province

Local MP suspects Taliban behind attack

Women who work outside the home and go to school often the victim of violent attacks

A student and polio volunteer has been shot dead by armed men in a rural Afghan village.

The brutal killing has raised questions about women's safety in the region, with reports suggesting that females are too scared to attend school or work following the murder.

The girl, known only as Anisa, was shot outside her home in Afghanistan's Kapisa province, having survived an attack only a day before.

Shooting: A female student and polio volunteer, known as Anisa, was shot dead outside her home in the Kapisa province in Afghanistan

After the gunmen opened fire, Anisa was carried to hospital by her brother but she later died with six bullets found her stomach.

It is still unsure who is responsible for the murder, but some reports suggest insurgents may have been behind the attack.

Anisa was an orphan in her early twenties who worked locally as a volunteer on a polio vaccination programme.

Endemic: An Afghan child is given drops of polio vaccine. The disease is still endemic in Afghanistan (stock image)

A local council member said that Anisa was being followed by a group and suggested that she may have been targeted for working outside the home.

She told the Guardian : ' She hadn't realised a group was following her and was very afraid.'

MALALA: THE GIRL WHO SURVIVED THE TALIBAN Student Malala Yousufzai, 15, was shot by the Taliban as she sat on a school bus for speaking out against militants in the Swat District of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Miraculously, Malala survived after having a bullet removed from her spine and was flown to Britain for treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Malala was well known for her education and women's rights activism in the Swat Valley, where the Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school.

In early 2009, she wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban rule, their attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls.

The following summer, a New York Times documentary was filmed about her life and Malala started to become a figurehead championing the rights of young girls in the region.

She has since been nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by Desmond Tutu and has won Pakistan's first National Youth Peace Prize.

Malala is now expected to remain in Britain as she may not be safe if she returns to Pakistan.

Speaking of her own experiences she said: 'Two times these groups called me and told me to stop my job.

'They told me my address and described my home to me. They said "We know everything about you and you have to stop your job".'

Anisa's involvement with the polio programme is thought to be one reason why she was targeted.

It is understood Anisa received a phone call from her killers on the morning of the attack before she went to work at the polio eradication centre.

The disease is still endemic in Afghanistan and very few children are vaccinated in the Kapisa region.

The Taliban denied any involvement in the murder and said that it was not opposed to polio vaccination.



Taliban members in Pakistan, however, banned the treatment of polio in South Warziristan earlier this year.

Sexism is an endemic social problem in Afghanistan, where violent murders and attacks against women are often unreported.

Statements were issued by senior clerics in the country earlier this year saying that women are subordinate to men and warning that females should not mix with men outside of the home.

Local MP Tahera Mojaddidi, who knew Anisa, blamed the Taliban and said she had discussed the murder with intelligence officials in the province.

She said: ‘In the village, families are saying that from the time when Anisa was killed up until now, their girls cannot go to schools, women who are working for organisations, they do not dare go out, because they think if they do their destiny would be the same as Anisa's.’

She said that officials would not investigate the story, instead proffering false stories, as they wanted to cover-up violent crimes against women in the region.

Officials in the region, however, have denied suggestions that the Taliban was involved.

Saifoorah Kohistani, the province’s director of women's affairs said the Taliban had no presence in the area, while police suggested Anisa had merely been caught in the crossfire of an argument.

Mohammad Makhfous Walizada, deputy provincial police chief, said a man had been arrested and that he had also received testimony from Anisa’s brother.