Gunmen kill five female airport workers

Gunmen shot dead five female airport
workers and their driver in southern
Afghanistan on Saturday, underlining the
threat to employed women in the country.
The women were in a van driving to the
airport in the southern Kandahar province
when at least three gunmen on
motorcycles opened fire at them, provincial
spokesman Samim Kheplwak told AFP.
“All the women and their driver aboard the
van were killed. The attackers fled the
area and we have launched an
investigation,” he said.
Kandahar International Airport Director
Ahmadullah Faizi said the women were
employees of a private company who
would provide luggage and body search
services for female passengers.
He said the women were concerned about
their security after receiving death threats
from people who disapproved of their
career.
No one immediately claimed responsibility
for the attack, but Kandahar females who
work outside their homes have long been
at high risk of attack from Taliban militants
and other insurgent groups.
Afghan women have made giant strides
since the Taliban regime was ousted in
2001, but they are still absent from public
life and continue to suffer high levels of
violence, oppression and abuse.
The Afghan attorney general’s office
recorded more than 3,700 cases of
violence against women in the first eight
months of 2016, with 5,000 cases recorded
in the whole of the previous year.