Afghan Taliban Arrest Official For Killing Woman

The Afghan Taliban has arrested one of its fighters for shooting dead a woman at a checkpoint in the Afghan capital as she returned from a wedding.

The shooting took place in a Kabul neighbourhood that has been the target of deadly attacks by sectarian armed groups such as ISIL (ISIS).

The Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Naeem said on Twitter that the killing of the woman was a mistake and that the arrested fighter will be punished.

The interior ministry of the country also said in a separate post that the woman’s family have been offered about $5,700 for the January 13 shooting.

The killing of 25-year-old Zainab Abdullahi has horrified women, who face increasing restrictions since the Taliban returned to power in August. Some women’s rights activists have staged protests in Kabul since Abdullahi’s killing, demanding justice.

The Taliban are increasingly imposing restrictions on women as most secondary schools for girls are shut, while women are barred from government work. Women have also been ordered not to travel long distances unless accompanied by a close male relative.

On Tuesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, urged the Security Council to “hold to account” those guilty of abuses in Afghanistan.

“Denying women and girls their fundamental rights was massively damaging, in a country already facing a humanitarian disaster of unprecedented proportions," she said.