Taliban Militants Behead Member Of Afghan Junior Women’s National Volleyball Team: Report

The team's coach said the players of the volleyball team and the rest of the women athletes are in a bad situation and in despair and fear.

Kabul: In a shocking incident, the Taliban militants have allegedly beheaded a member of the Afghan junior women’s national volleyball team, the team’s coach told Persian Independent in an interview.

Giving further details, team coach Suraya Afzali (name changed) said a woman player named Mahjabin Hakimi was killed by the Taliban earlier in October, but nobody learnt about the murder as the insurgents had threatened her family not to reveal the matter.

It must be noted that Mahjabin played for the Kabul Municipality Volleyball Club before the Afghanistan government was taken over by the Taliban. She was one of the club’s star players. However, a few days back, pictures of her severed head and bloodied neck surfaced on social media.

The team coach further stated that only two of the team’s players were able to escape from the country before the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August. He said that Mahjabin Hakimi, however, was among the many unfortunate women sportspersons who were left behind to be killed by the Taliban.

The team’s coach further claimed that from the time of the Taliban takeover, the militants have tried to identify and hunt down women athletes. He also claimed that the militants are keenly on the look-out for members of the Afghan women’s volleyball team, who competed in foreign and domestic competitions and appeared in media programs in the past.

Afzali told the Persian Independent that the players of the volleyball team and the rest of the women athletes are in a bad situation and in despair and fear. He also stated that the players have been forced to flee and live underground.

It must be noted that the Afghan national women’s volleyball team was established in 1978 and has long been a ray of hope and empowerment for young girls in the country.