Afghan Mother Kills Over Ten Taliban Militants After Son is Murdered

An Afghan woman, only known as Rezagul, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty how she murdered between 10 and 25 Taliban militants after they murdered her 27-year-old son right in front of her. The attack occurred on November 17 in western Farah Province.

“I was so enraged that I took a gun and started firing at them, and I kept throwing hand grenades,” she said. “I was hitting anyone who was coming at us. They were firing and firing at us, we were firing back.”

Her husband, their son, and two other officers manned the checkpoint when the Taliban attacked in the early morning. Her daughter-in-law Fatima helped with the counter-offensive, which lasted around seven hours.

“I was helping [policemen] to put bullets into their Kalashnikovs,” she said. “And I was also throwing hand grenades. I was wounded in my leg. My husband was martyred that day.”

Rezagul claims she killed ten. Local authorities said “a total of 27 militants were killed and 32 others wounded.” Farah police chief Abdul Razzaq Yaqoobi “praised the family, ‘especially the brave Afghan women,’ for their ‘exceptional courage and heroism.'” Sediq Sediq, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, echoed Yaqoobi’s sentiments. He said “the armed campaign by women against the Taliban militants is a symbol of a major revolution and public uprising against the group.

The family’s house is next to the checkpoint and barely survived.

“We lost everything: our money, the dishes, windows, everything was burnt down,” she said. “Everything was leveled. But we defended the outpost.”