From exile, female former Afghan leader keeps fighting
Associated PressNEW YORK — Two months after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, one of the country’s once-prominent female leaders — a former parliament member, candidate for president and a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize — is visiting the United Nations, not as a representative of her government but as a woman in exile. Women should not be only the recipients,” said Koofi, part of a delegation of Afghan women visiting the U.N. to urge member states not to compromise on inclusion and equal rights in Afghanistan. Pausing as tears ran down her face, she said: “I mean, every day we are actually dealing with this trauma.” Her former female colleagues in parliament, female judges who used to sentence people affiliated with the Taliban and some journalists who spoke out against the group are now fearful, she said. The Taliban must also be held accountable, she added, for their pledges that women would be able to go to school and work “within the principles of Islam.” Each day, Koofi said she gets hundreds of text and voice messages largely from women still in Afghanistan, hoping she can help them. “If we think that one military extremist group, which is Taliban, is going to defeat Daesh — it’s not going to work that way,” she said.