Afghan girl, 10, was preparing for a new life in Canada before she was killed by the Taliban
CBC
A 10-year-old Afghan girl who was preparing to come to Canada with her family was instead shot dead by the Taliban last week, a death critics say is partly to blame on Ottawa's sluggish efforts to relocate Afghans who worked with the Canadian military.
Nazifa's father had worked for the Canadian Armed Forces in Kandahar, said Kynan Walper, chief operations officer at Aman Lara, a veterans group volunteering to help Afghans who served with the military escape the country.
Walper blamed an inadequate evacuation effort by the Canadian government and delays in immigration processing for the girl's killing.
"I cannot be clear enough — this young girl is dead because of delays in getting people over here," said Walper. He says Nazifa was learning English and was excited about moving to Canada.
The family received visa approvals, under the federal government's special immigration program for Afghans who worked alongside Canada, in mid-October, according to Walper.
But they were stuck in Afghanistan with little help from Ottawa, he said, as they struggled to get Afghan passports so they could travel to a third country, in this case Pakistan, and then onward to Canada.
Nazifa's father, Bashir, Walper said, is devastated.
Nazifa's death, and its circumstances, were first reported by Global News. The family's last name is being withheld for security reasons.
The family was returning from a wedding on the night of Dec. 10 in Kandahar, the Taliban's heartland, when the shooting happened.
The group thought they had been cleared to pass through a checkpoint — but seconds later Taliban fighters opened fire on their vehicle.
An adult woman related to the girl was also killed and "several" others were injured, Walper said.
He said the family fears it may have been targeted because of Bashir's work with the Canadian military — but it's unclear why exactly the shooting began.
The Taliban granted a general amnesty for those who worked with foreign forces. But human rights organizations and Afghan sources have accused Taliban fighters of carrying out targeted retribution killings in the months since taking back Afghanistan.
Alex Cohen, press secretary for Immigration Minister Sean Fraser, called Nazifa's death "tragic and heartbreaking," writing that Canada condemns "this senseless act of violence by the Taliban."
