Safia Ahmed-jan

Who was Safia Ahmed-jan?

Safia Ahmed-jan was an Afghan women's rights advocate and an outspoken critic of the Taliban for the latter's suppression of women. During the period of fundamentalist rule, she stayed in Afghanistan to secretly teach women.

At the time of her assassination on 25 September 2006 she was the provincial director of the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Kandahar province, a position she had held for five years. Previously, she was a teacher and high school principal. She was killed in front of her home in the provincial capital, Kandahar, by two men on a motorcycle.

Of her, U.S. President George W. Bush said, "She was a leader who wanted to give young girls an education in Afghanistan. She was a person who served her government. She was a person who cared deeply about the future of the country."