Taliban murders Afghanistan's top policewoman

The most prominent female police officer in Afghanistan has been murdered by the Taliban, the latest victim in a vicious campaign against women in public life by Muslim fundamentalists.

Malalai Kakar, who specialised in rescuing abused women, was shot dead outside her home in Kandahar in an attack which also left her 15-year-old son, one of her six children, critically injured.

"We killed Malalai Kakar," said a Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi "She was our target, and we successfully eliminated our target." The Islamist group had previously carried out several unsuccessful attacks on her life, and those of her female colleagues, before yesterday's lethal ambush.

Ms Kakar, 41, carried a pistol underneath her burqa, which she wore on the way to report for duty at Kandahar's central police station in an attempt not to be recognised by the enemy. However, she had no chance to defend herself or her son when gunmen opened fire as she was leaving for work at around 7.30am, security officials said.

She was killed instantly but her son survived and was in a coma last night.

The Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, described the killing as "an act of cowardice by enemies of peace, welfare and reconstruction in the country". The European Union mission described the act, against someone who was an "example" to her fellow citizens as "particularly abhorrent".

Women's rights groups have, however, repeatedly complained that they have received little protection from either the government or Western forces as they have been subjected to a systematic campaign of intimidation and terror from Muslim hardliners.

At the official end of the Afghan war, America's first lady, Laura Bush, was among those who declared that one of the most important achievements in overthrowing the Taliban was the emancipation of women. However, in the seven years since the "liberation" by invading US and British forces, Afghanistan has seen a steady erosion of womens' rights and the killing of female activists.

Commander Kakar is the second female police officer to be killed in recent months. At the end of June, Bibi Hoor, 26, a lieutenant in the western province of Heart, was shot down after warnings that she must leave her job and leave the area with her family.

But Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, has experienced the most violent backlash. Of five women in public life interviewed by The Independent five years ago, three are now dead and one, the local MP, Zurghana Kakar – no relation to Commander Kakar – has only recently returned to the city after an attack in which her husband was killed.

Commander Kakar had earned particular enmity from the zealots for leading a female team of 10 officers who would carry out raids to free wives and daughters being held captive by their male relatives. Her office became a refuge for women being threatened and mistreated and she regularly challenged orders from conservative judges to force them to return to their families.

During one meeting at the police station she said: "We are trying to apply the law and the constitution is supposed to protect women's rights. But I fear that we are going backwards. More and more obstacles are being put in our path. Instead of becoming more confident, women are becoming more afraid of the threats," she said.

A few months later, one of Commander Kakar's closest friends, Safia Amajan, one of the most senior workers for female rights in the country, was murdered as she was on her way to work. Her execution had been ordered by a mullah in Pakistan and carried out by two men in return for money.

The next time I met Commander Kakar, she said: "We caught the men because they went to the grave to get a lock of Safia's hair because the mullah in Pakistan had wanted proof that she was really dead." She added: "These are the kind of people we are having to fight. They hate any thought of women having freedom. None of us can be safe from such hatred."