Taliban Assaulted, Shot Pregnant Police Officer Dead In Front Of Her Family

Taliban militants in Afghanistan have been accused of assaulting and murdering a pregnant cop in front of her husband and children during a door-to-door execution on Saturday in Firozkoh, the capital of central Ghor province, reports claim.

The alleged victim, identified by local media as Banu Negar, was reportedly gunned down at the family's home, in front of her loved ones in Firozkoh, amid a surge in reports of escalating repression of women in the country, the BBC reported.

On Saturday, three Arabic-speaking gunmen allegedly stormed their house and searched it before tying members of the family up before singling out the female cop. The intruders then proceeded to assault and shoot Negar dead in front of her husband and children.

Negar, already a mother to a young son, was six months pregnant, according to her relatives.

Sources would supply graphic images of the appalling attack, revealing blood spattered on the walls of a room where Negar's corpse lay with her face heavily disfigured following the abuse.

No further details were provided by witnesses, who fear retribution if they expose Taliban crimes.

However, the Taliban has rebuffed the allegations, arguing that they had no involvement in Negar's death and are now investigating the incident themselves.

"We are aware of the incident and I am confirming that the Taliban have not killed her, our investigation is ongoing," Zabiullah Mujaheed, a spokesman for the extremist group, said.

Mujaheed moved to put the murder down to “personal enmity or something else,” noting that the Taliban had already declared an amnesty for Afghan individuals who served the previous administration, according to the Evening Standard.

The Taliban reclaimed power in Kabul on Aug. 15 after the Western-backed government fell, prompting President Ashraf Ghani to flee Afghanistan and abandon his countrymen.

Amid fears of retribution against those who worked for the former government, the Taliban campaigned for a more tolerant regime, vowing that there will be "no grudges, no revenge" in their return to the fore.

The Taliban also contended that it will not carry out retribution killings or repress women, seeking to protect women’s rights and create an inclusive government unlike its old reign of terror, where they deprived women of any education or job opportunities in the 1990s, the Mirror noted.

However, there's a growing disparity between Taliban statements and the public outcry from the streets with incidents of brutality, revenge killings, repression, and persecution of religious minorities still being reported in parts of Afghanistan.