KABUL: The former head of women police in a southern Afghanistan province was seriously wounded and her husband also a police officer was killed on Sunday in an attack by unidentified gunmen, provincial officials said.

Omer Zwak, spokesman for Helmand’s provincial gov­ernor, said unidentified gunmen opened fire on the couple in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah. The attack came amid a surge in violence in the war-weary country.

An officer in the Helmand police chief’s office who wasn’t authorised to speak with media, said the attack targeted the female officer, whom he identified only as Malala. She formerly supervised all female police in the province.

Malala was seriously wounded and her husband Abdul Qayum, also a police officer at Helmand police headquarters, was killed in the attack, he said.

Mohammad Zaman Hamdard, a spokesman for the Helmand police chief, said Malala served for 14 years and was working in a Helmand police section that deals with family domestic problems.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2021