Taliban fighters outside Kabul University, Afghanistan. Photo / AP
Taliban fighters outside Kabul University, Afghanistan. Photo / AP
A mum has been brutally murdered in Afghanistan, just days after she marched with hundreds of women calling for better rights in the Taliban-controlled country.
Farwa, a 30-year-old mum-of-three, had taken to the streets to protest, despite the threat of violence and retribution from the militant regime. Two days later she was murdered.
Her brutal death, first reported by The Guardian, is yet another example of Afghans being killed in the street or attacked in their homes as the lawlessness associated with the Taliban regime leaves millions living in fear.
Taliban members lay their weapons down as they pray inside a mosque in Kabul. Photo / AP
Speaking to news.com.au, Farwa's brother Rohullah Hossaini said his sister was in her home on Friday when she heard someone outside screaming for help.
Despite her husband begging her to stay in the house, Farwa ran outside with her six-month-old baby still in her arms and her three-year-old son following close behind.
Farwa was then executed in the street with the toddler witnessing the brutal murder.
Farwa's husband quickly shielded his wife's body, telling the three-year-old boy she was sleeping.
While Farwa's oldest son, aged six, understands what has happened, the three-year-old was struggling.
Hossaini said the three-year-old keeps asking his dad "when is mummy going to wake up?" and the six-month-old was taken to the local hospital this morning.
"He's crying non-stop," Hossaini said.
"He's at the hospital now because he's not eating much ... he keeps shaking, you can imagine what it's like as a baby hearing a gun go off so close to you."
Hossaini said he was unable to provide photos of his sister because his brother-in-law, Farwa's sister, had been in a state of shock since her murder.
"He's just banging his head against the wall," he said.
Hossaini said he's also working to keep his brothers - all in their 20s - calm, as anger and despair rocks the household.
"We don't know who shot my sister but they're so angry, they're running everywhere to try and start fights and figure out who did it .. but now is not the time to take revenge."
Girls walk upstairs as they enter a school before class in Kabul. Photo / AP
While Hossaini said the family was still trying to figure out who shot Farwa, he said the Taliban had already made a chilling threat.
"We don't know if she was shot because of me, because I'm a refugee advocate for myself, my family and my country," he said.
"We don't know if she got shot because she was marching ... but when she was shot, the family went to the Taliban and showed them her body, asking what happened.
"The Taliban said, 'oh yes, someone shot her' and then asked 'did she go to that march in the main street?'
"The family said, 'everybody did', and the Taliban said 'well don't go again then'.
"We don't know who killed her but I will find out who did it and why."
Hossaini and his wife Nooria. Photo / Supplied
Hossaini, who has lived in the rural Victorian town of Swan Hill since 2012, said the family were now grappling with Farwa's death and fear of ongoing retribution.
Hossaini fled Afghanistan by boat in 2012, arriving in Australia as a refugee.
For the past 10 years he has desperately worked to bring the rest of his family - his mother, siblings and his own wife and child - to Australia.
The entire family were living in the city of Ghazni, three hours south of Kabul, when the Taliban launched a swift insurgency and recaptured Afghanistan last month.
While Hossaini's siblings and mother still reside in the city, that has been rocked by violence in the past month, his wife and child have fled to Kabul.
His wife Nooria and child Jasmine have been in "immediate danger" since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.
"The past 10 years have been the darkest of my life. Afghanistan is not safe, it is dangerous and a horrible place but at least the Taliban shoot you and give you an easy death," he said.
"Here I am dying a really painful, slow death.
"I'm more than happy to go back right now. I know I will get shot but I want to see my family before they shoot them. I want to hug my beautiful Jasmine before she's killed, or just cuddle her body, I don't know."
Hossaini volunteers with the SES, works as an interpreter for the local Afghan community and also works at the local hospital as an allied health assistant, helping other refugees.
Despite all he has done for his local community, Hossaini feels hopeless.
"Nothing has happened these last 10 years, I have no hope, I'm dealing with PTSD and loneliness," he said.
"I'm asking our Australian government to please stop this painful process. It is a humanitarian crisis, a catastrophe and an emergency situation. Please help."
Taliban fighters sit next to street vendors at a local market in Kabul. Photo / AP
Hossaini said he had heard numerous reports of violence outside of Kabul, as the world's media turns its focus to the Afghan capital.
One man Hossaini knows said his father had been pulled from a car by Taliban soldiers and murdered in front of his family.
"And people are going missing in the night, there are a lot of stories of husbands and wives sleeping in the middle of the night and the husband getting pulled out of the house and murdered," he said.
"Then the Taliban warns you and your family, 'if you put this on social media or tell anyone, we know where you live and we will come and get you'."
Nationals MP Peter Walsh, the member for Murray Plains in northern Victoria, called on the Australian government to help Hossaini's family last month.
"Nooria and Jasmine have already fled their home in Ghazni City as the Taliban swept in to take control. Now they are trapped in Kabul, where the building in which they are staying was hit by mortars," Walsh said.
"I was part of as crisis meeting in Swan Hill (last month) and we are pressuring everyone in Australia who has any influence in a bid to bring them safely to Swan Hill.
"The family are Hazara; a persecuted ethnic minority which has been targeted for more than 500 years and are maliciously hunted by the Taliban.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Rohullah, who has been working with Swan Hill Rural City Council for the past four years, and his family – and indeed for all the families in Afghanistan trying to flee the Taliban in the aftermath of 20 years of the US-led coalition supporting the government coming to an end."
Afghans are continuing to clash with the Taliban, who swept to power on August 15 when they captured the presidential capital in Kabul.
Fears the Taliban will regress to its notorious hardline Islamist rule have already been confirmed in large parts of Afghanistan, with protests being met with deadly force.
Women's rights in Afghanistan were sharply curtailed under the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule, though since returning to power last month the hardline Islamists have claimed they will implement a less extreme rule.
Under new rules, women may work "in accordance with the principles of Islam", the Taliban have decreed, but few details have yet been given as to what exactly that might mean.
