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Afghan Female Police Officer Shot


Afghan policewomen aim their guns during shooting exercises at the Afghan National Police Academy shooting range, in Kabul December 9, 2012.
Afghan policewomen aim their guns during shooting exercises at the Afghan National Police Academy shooting range, in Kabul December 9, 2012.
Officials in southern Afghanistan say gunmen have shot and wounded a senior female police officer, just months after her female predecessor was killed.

Authorities say Nigar, who like many Afghans uses only one name, was shot Sunday by gunmen on a motorbike in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand province. Officials say the gunmen escaped.

Nigar had replaced the late Islam Bibi as a senior investigator. Bibi was shot dead in July.

Bibi was widely seen as an example of how opportunities for women have improved in Afghanistan since the repressive Taliban regime was ousted in 2001.

However, Bibi, who was 37 years old and the mother of three, received regular death threats from people who did not approve of her career, including her brother who tried to kill her three times.
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