Top Afghanistan female police officer killed 

A top female police officer has been shot dead in Afghanistan's Helmand province, officials say.

Lt Islam Bibi was ambushed by unknown attackers as she left her home in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, a spokesman for Helmand police said.

The commander of 32 female police officers, Lt Bibi, 37, was known as a role model for other women in the conservative province.

Her death came as four girls were also killed in a roadside blast in Helmand.

Lt Bibi was on a motorbike alongside her son-in-law when she was wounded in the gun attack. She later died in hospital, officials say.

Like most Afghan women in rural areas of Afghanistan, Lt Bibi had struggled to work outside the home, says the BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul.

Meanwhile, the four girls, said to be aged between seven and 12, were attending a wedding in Lashkar Gah and had gone to collect water from a stream when the explosives detonated.

Last month Afghan forces assumed security responsibility for the whole country ahead of Nato's departure. Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are one of their biggest challenges.

Helmand is one of Afghanistan's most volatile provinces.

Correspondents say that civilian casualties in the south have increased recently, and many of those are due to the use of improvised explosives by the militants.

'Not a death in vain': Kerry to meet parents of US diplomat killed by Afghan car bomb

Smedinghoff family via Reuters

Anne Smedinghoff, a 25-year-old diplomat from River Forest, Illinois, was killed along with four other Americans in a car bomb blast in Afghanistan on April 6.

 

By Andrea Mitchell and Ian Johnston, NBC News

Secretary of State John Kerry was due on Monday to meet the parents of Anne Smedinghoff, the American diplomat killed in a car bombing in Afghanistan earlier this month.
Kerry was scheduled to meet them in Chicago after flying back from Japan following a six-nation tour in Asia dominated by the North Korean crisis.
Smedinghoff, 25, was on her way to deliver books to a school in Qalat, Zabul province, when she and four other Americans were killed by a car bomb on April 6. An American civilian was also killed in a separate attack on the same day.

Anne Smedinghoff, 25, was killed Saturday when a suicide car bomber blew up their convoy along with four other Americans. Although she recognized the dangers and risks in Afghanistan, her family and friends said she still loved the job. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

Kerry, speaking in Tokyo, said that everyone he had met with in recent days in the State Department “feels this enormously.”

 

“It's all the promise of a young person with all of the idealism and energy, enthusiasm suddenly snuffed out in the quest of high ideals and great values,” he said.
“I think that … is not a death in vain. It's a loss. It's a horrible loss. It's unfathomable as a parent,” he said. “But it's a great contribution and sacrifice for our country. And it is in the highest spirit of tradition and service of the State Department and the Foreign Service, and indeed of America, in our efforts to try to help other people be able to share in the blessings of life that we experience every day.”
“So I think that people should celebrate her life and really show their respect for what she was trying to do,” he added. “She inspired a lot of people and even in her loss she's an inspiration.”
Kerry met Smedinghoff, whose business card read "Assistant Information Officer," several weeks ago when she worked as his control officer during his recent trip to Afghanistan.
Smedinghoff previously served in Venezuela.
In an email to the Washington Post, Smedinghoff's parents said their daughter "was always looking for opportunities to reach out and help to make a difference in the lives of those living in a country ravaged by war."
They added: "We are consoled knowing that she was doing what she loved, and that she was serving her country by helping to make a positive difference in the world."

World leaders react to the killing of Christ Stevens and other consulate staff

World leaders and other international figures have been reacting to the killing of the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.

US President Barack Obama

"I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Right now, the American people have the families of those we lost in our thoughts and prayers."

President of Libya's national assembly Mohammed Magarief

"We apologise to the United States of America and to the American people and to the whole world for what happened, and at the same time we expect the rest of the world to help us face these cowardly criminal acts."

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton

"I am deeply shocked by the despicable attack. I condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms. I call on Libya to take all necessary measures without delay to protect the lives of all diplomats and foreign staff."

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

"I strongly condemn the attack on the US mission in Benghazi. Such violence can never be justified. I welcome the Libyan president's condemnation and condolences and his pledge of his government's full cooperation."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague

"The UK condemns the brutal and senseless attack. We send our condolences to the people and government of the United States and stand with them in this. These diplomats were serving not only their own country but the people of Libya and were working for the peace and stability of Libya in the future."

French President Francois Hollande

"France demands that the Libyan authorities shed all possible light on these odious and unacceptable crimes, identify the culprits and bring them to justice."

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti

"We will continue to support the government of the new democratic Libya, which we are sure will spare no effort in preventing Libya's new course from being hijacked. We condemn with maximum firmness this brutal act."

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert

"The federal government condemns in the strongest terms the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt. Such violence against diplomatic facilities can, and may, never be a means of political debate, of political action."

Russian foreign ministry

"We strongly condemn any attacks on foreign diplomatic posts and their staff as terrorist acts which can have no justification."

Afghan man shot after being accused of adultery!

.......... yeah, right!  That headline will never happen. 

When an Afghan woman gets accused of adultery she gets shot.  What about the man she supposedly committed adultery with?  Isn't he equally guilty as well?  Shouldn't he be shot in the same manner? 

What do you think?