Sitara Achakzai Explained

Sitara Achakzai
Death Place:	Kandahar, Kandahar, Afghanistan
Death Cause:	Assassination
Occupation:	Activist
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Sitara Achakzai (also transliterated Achaksai) (1956/1957 – 12 April 2009) was a leading Afghan women's rights activist and a member of the regional parliament in Kandahar. She was assassinated by the Taliban.^{[1] [2] [3]}

"Achakzai" is a name shared by one of the sub-tribes of Durrani clan, part of the Pashtun people, one of the largestethnic groups of Afghanistan. She held dual citizenship between Afghanistan and Germany,^[4] and was well known in Canada as some of her extended family live in the Toronto area.^[5]

Death

Like Malalai Kakar and Safia Amajan, Sitara Achakzai was targeted by the Taliban because she was trying to improve the situation of Afghan women. At the age of 52, she was assassinated by Taliban gunmen in Kandahar on 12 April 2009.

The Canadian government condemned the assassination.^[6] Michaëlle Jean, the Governor General, said

Encomium

• "She was a warrior, she was a brave woman and she always fought for women's rights and the poor's rights; that's why they didn't like her ... [I]t's a loss for everybody; for democracy, basically, because she fought for everybody." (Ajmal Maiwand, nephew of Ms. Achakzai)^[7]

External links

• Notice of Achakzai's murder
• Notice of Achakzai's murder
• CBC report on Sitara Achakzai
• Report on Sitara Achakzai
• Globe and Mail report on Sitara Achakzai
• The Star report on Sitara Achakzai
• The Huffington Post: "Sitara Achakzai, Martyr for Muslim Women"
• about the live of Sitara Achakzai in Germany and Afghanistan
• "Let Women be Enlightened" by Helen Irving in the Sydney Morning Herald

Notes and References

1. Web site: Archived copy . 26 February 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110617014555/http://news.indiainfo.com/article/0904131354_taliban_claims_responsibility_killing_female_politician_kandahar/337451.html . 17 June 2011 .
2. Web site: Taliban claims responsibility for killing female politician in Kandahar. 8 May 2017. 15 November 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171115015528/http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/taliban-claims-responsibility-for-killing-female-politician-in-kandahar_100178904.html. dead.
3. Web site: Options d'achat – NewsPostOnline.com. https://archive.today/20120726031145/http://www.newspostonline.com/world-news/taliban-claims-responsibility-for-killing-female-politician-in-kandahar-2009041349868. dead. 26 July 2012. www.newspostonline.com. 8 May 2017.
4. http://www.epo.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4884 Statement of Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul (German Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development) (in German)
5. News: report of the Globe and Mail. 8 May 2017. dead. https://archive.today/20090417073910/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090414.AFGHANFAMILY14ART2245/TPStory/National. 17 April 2009.
6. Web site: Afghanistan.gc.ca. Afghanistan.gc.ca. Afghanistan.gc.ca. 26 June 2013. 8 May 2017.
7. News: Globe and Mail report on Sitara Achakzai's murder. 8 May 2017. dead. https://archive.today/20090417073910/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090414.AFGHANFAMILY14ART2245/TPStory/National. 17 April 2009.