Taliban have taken Salima Mazari, one of the only three women governors of Afghanistan, into their custody, according to local reports. Mazari is the Hazara district Governor of Chaharkint, Balkh.
Mazari, who is known for raising her voice against the Taliban, had said earlier there will be no place for women if the insurgents take control of the country.
At a time when many Afghan political leaders had fled the country, Salima Mazari stayed on till the surrender of Balkh province, when her district of Chahar Kint fell to the Taliban.
Reports say the woman leader has been captured by the Taliban after the insurgents gained control over the entire nation and the Afghan leadership, including President Ashraf Ghani, fled the country.
Mazari is a member of the Hazara community – most of whom are Shia Muslims, who the Sunni Taliban consider a heretical sect.
They have been regularly targeted by the Taliban and Islamic State fighters, including an attack on a school in the capital in May that killed more than 80 girls.
Until the final fall, Chahar Kint was the only region under the control of a woman which did not fall under any of the terror groups in the region. According to The News portal, Salima Mazari successfully negotiated the surrender of 100 Taliban last year.
Over the past few years, Salima Mazari had gained much praise and attention for being a woman leader in Afghanistan. Speaking to a News portal at the start of the latest Taliban onslaught in capturing Afghanistan, Salima Mazari had expressed concerns about the safety of her people.
