Who Is Zarifa Ghafari? Afghanistan's First Female Mayor

Zarifa Ghafari: After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan on Sunday, the country is living through uncertain times fearing for what may come its way under the militant regime.

The first female mayor of the country Zarifa Ghafari while speaking to an international daily said she is waiting for the Taliban to come and kill people like her. People of the old regime, who are still staying in the country after the members of the  Ashraf Ghani-led government managed to leave.

Ghafari said, "I’m sitting here waiting for them to come. There is no one to help me or my family. I’m just sitting with them and my husband. And they will come for people like me and kill me.”

The 27-year-old leader is living in fear and has nowhere else to go. She had hoped that Kabul would not crumble at the hands of the militant group but the complete take over on Sunday proved otherwise.

The Taliban has claimed that it will pardon the people who worked for the old Afghanistani government, history makes it hard for the people to believe them. Ghafari has legitimate grounds to be scared at the moment. She is one of the many people of the old regime who have received death threats from the Taliban. Her father, General Abdul Wasi Ghafari was killed by the militant group on November 15, 2020.

Here's what we know of the young leader Zarifa Ghafari:

• Ghafari became the first female mayor in Afghanistan in 2018. She took her office in Wardak province of the country. She was given the responsibility of taking care of the welfare of wounded soldiers and civilians during terror attacks in Kabul.
• She was chosen as the International Woman of Courage by the US Secretary of State in 2020.
• After taking her office, she escaped several assassination attempts against her. When her father was killed, she said that the Taliban does not want her to be the Mayor and that is why they killed her father.
• BBC listed Ghafari as one of the 100 Inspiring Influential Women from around the world in 2019.
• She did her graduation from the University of Punjab in Chandigarh, India.

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