Kabul gets 1st woman police chief

Star Online Report

Source: Mail Online

Colonel Jamila Bayaz will run one of the city's most important police stations

Afghanistan has appointed its first female police chief in its capital Kabul, reports Mail Online.
Colonel Jamila Bayaz, who has 25 years experience, will run one of the most important police stations in the city making her the most senior police officer in the country.
It is hoped the appointment will lead to more women joining the police force, the report added.
She told Tolo News: 'I think my assignment to this post will persuade others to join the police force.'
However, female officers have become targets for militants and some have even received death threats from relatives.
Last year the most senior female officer in Helmand was shot dead when she left her home to go to work.
Lieutenant Islam Bibi survived death threats from her own brother to rise through the ranks.
But in July last year she was shot dead as she rode on a motorbike alongside her son-in-law.
The 37-year-old mother of three had been a role model for other women.
In an interview with the Telegraph last year, she said: 'My brother, father and sisters were all against me. In fact my brother tried to kill me three times.
'He came to see me brandishing his pistol trying to order me not to do it, though he didn’t actually open fire. The government eventually had to take his pistol away.'