A 15-year-old Afghan girl, Nooria, has been hailed as a hero after she used an AK-47 to defend her family during a night-time raid on her home in Ghor province. She killed two men and wounded a third, but the incident has become mired in conflicting accounts.
According to Nooria, around 1am, armed men burst into her parents' home. She grabbed her father's AK-47 and opened fire, killing two attackers. However, her parents and an elderly neighbour were also killed. Nooria said the men identified themselves as 'mujahideen' fighters, a term often used by the Taliban.
But multiple sources, including family members of the dead attackers and local officials, have given differing versions. Some claim that one of the gunmen was Nooria's husband, suggesting the attack was a family dispute rather than a Taliban raid. The Taliban denied involvement, saying they had targeted a police checkpoint that night, with no civilian casualties.
Afghan government officials have declared Nooria a hero, while human rights groups highlight the prevalence of child marriage in rural areas. Nooria and her brother have been evacuated to a safehouse, but the truth of what happened remains unclear, reflecting the complex realities of life in Afghanistan's conflict zones.
