IPU Welcomes Release of Afghan MP Fariba Kakar

IPU has welcomed the safe return of Afghan MP Fariba Ahmadi Kakar to her family following her kidnapping in mid-August.

Afghan MP Fariba Ahmadi Kakar after her release by her captors on 7 September ©REUTERS

The MP had been abducted together with her children in Ghazni Province in the latest of a string of violent attacks on prominent women in the country. Although her children had been quickly released by their captors, Kakar continued to be held until late last week.

Expressing concern for Kakar prior to her release, Afghan women MPs raised the issue of their security during a plenary session of parliament last weekend and called for greater protection.

Just days before the Afghan MP’s abduction, Afghan Senator Rooh Gul Hirzad had also been targeted in an attack that killed one of her daughters and left her and other family members injured.

IPU reiterates its call for greater security for women MPs, who make up just over 27 per cent of parliamentarians in both the lower and upper house of parliament. Action was needed to ensure such targeting of both MPs and other citizens did not become common practice.