Afghan Girl, 15, Picks Up AK-47, Kills Taliban Fighters Who Murdered Her Parents

Last week, about 40 Taliban fighters stormed the village of Geriveh in the central Ghor province.

Around midnight, they knocked on the door of the house where Qamar Gul, 15, lived with her parents and 12-year-old brother Habibullah, officials told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“The insurgents came to their doorstep and her mother went to see who was knocking,” provincial governor spokesman Mohamed Aref Aber told the news outlet. “When she saw that they were armed, she refused to open the door.”

Officials said the fighters were looking for Gul’s father, the village chief, and a government supporter.

Aber said Gul told him the Taliban members “took my father and mother outside and shot them several times. I was terrified.”

That’s when the teen girl took action. “According to Aber, Qamar Gul witnessed the death of her parents, picked up her father’s rifle and shot and killed three insurgents. She then started a one-hour battle with the Taliban alongside her 12-year-old brother, Habibullah,” AFP reported.

“Anger took over,” Gul said.

“I picked up the gun we had at home, went to the door and shot them,” said Gul, who was taught by her father how to use an AK-47 rifle. “My brother took the gun from me and hit him. The fighter ran away injured, only to return later,” Gul said.

They held off the insurgents until others in the village, along with pro-government militiamen, showed up to help.

“Afghan security forces have since moved Gul and her 12-year-old brother Habibullah — who was alongside his sister during the hour-long ordeal — to a safer place, Aber said,” according to The Guardian.

“They were in shock in the first two days and could not talk too much, but are in a good condition now,” he told the British paper. “They are saying: ‘This was our right because we did not need to live without our parents.’ They don’t have many relatives other than a half-brother who lives in the same village.”

“I no longer fear them and I’m ready to fight them again,” Gul told AFP by telephone from a relative’s home, where she was being watched by guards. “I am proud I killed my parents’ murderers,” she said. “I killed them because they killed my parents, and also because I knew they would come for me and my little brother.”

Gul said she was sad she could not say goodbye to her mother and father. “After I killed the two Taliban, I went to talk to my parents, but they were not breathing,” she said. “I feel sad I could not talk to them one last time.”

After news of the teen’s bravery spread, supporters praised her on social media.

“Hats off to her courage!” Najiba Rahmi posted on Facebook. “Well done.”

“Power of an Afghan girl,” wrote Fazila Alizada, another Facebook user.