Gunmen kill female Afghan ex-journalist in Kabul

Gunmen shot dead a former television journalist and adviser to the Afghan parliament in Kabul on Saturday (May 11) underlining threats to women and drawing widespread condemnation.

Mina Mangal, who used to report for prominent TV station Ariana News, was killed by two unidentified men on a motorbike close to her home in eastern Kabul, police spokesman Basir Mujahid said.

She had been on her way to work as an adviser to the parliament's cultural affairs commission.

There was no immediate word on the motive for the attack, but another Kabul police spokesman, Ferdous Farahmarz, said the cause may have been a family dispute.

The killing came during heightened focus on women's rights ahead of a possible exit of foreign forces from Afghanistan and potential return of the hardline Taliban to a role in government.