Latifa Nabizada

Last updated
Latifa Nabizada
Col. Latifa Nabizada exits the stage.jpg
Colonel Latifa Nabizada in 2013.
Bornca. 1969
Kabul, Afghanistan
AllegianceFlag of Afghanistan (2004-2021).svg  Afghanistan
Service / branch Afghan Air Force
Years of service
  • 1989–1996
  • 2001–present
Rank Colonel
Battles / wars War in Afghanistan (1978–present)

Latifa Nabizada is an Afghan helicopter pilot in the Afghan Air Force. She is one of the first two women pilots to serve in Afghanistan that were qualified to fly a Mi-17 helicopter. [1] By 2013, she was a colonel in the new Afghan Air Force. [2] Nabizada's own career in the Afghan military has inspired other women to join. [3]

Contents

Biography

Early life and career

Nabizada grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in the 1970s, though her father spent six years in jail after being accused of being a member of the Mujahadeen. [4] She is ethnically Uzbek, [2] and "deeply religious," following Islam. [4] Nabizada and her sister, Laliuma Nabizada both wanted to become pilots after they completed school and applied to the Afghan military school in the Afghan Air Force. [5] They were denied several times on "medical grounds," but were finally admitted in 1989 when a civilian doctor certified them. [6] Both sisters had to make their own uniforms, since there were no women's uniforms ready made in the military. [6] In 1991, she and her sister graduated from the helicopter flight school. [2] Both Latifa and her sister began to fly transport missions during the Afghan civil war. [2] During her missions, she and her sister would often fly together, though other missions were solo, [2] in which they had to avoid the Stinger missiles used by the Mujahadeen, the greatest threat at the time to Soviet and Afghan military aircraft. [2] After the fall of the Communist regime in 1992, the new Mujahadeen government kept the Nabizada sisters on its service as pilots. [2]

The Taliban era and exile

In 1996, when the Taliban seized Kabul, the sisters moved to Mazar-i Sharif in a secure place found by General Abdul Rashid Dostum. [6] Their hiding place in Mazar-i Sharif was betrayed by a former Air Force member who defected to the Taliban and the sisters and their family fled to Pakistan because their lives were threatened. [4] In 1998, during the capture of Mazar-i Sharif, she and her sister stole a helicopter with the intention of fleeing to safe haven to Uzbekistan, but they eventually turned back because of their family who they couldn't leave behind. [2] During this period, the Taliban searched for the sisters, even detaining and torturing her three brothers, who never revealed their location. [2] She and her family finally settled in Pakistan where they lived in the refugee camps around Peshawar until 2000, when they decided to move back to Afghanistan. [4] Following the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, the Nabizada family returned to Kabul, where the sisters offered their services to the new Afghan Government of Hamid Karzai and were reinstated in the newly created Afghan National Army Air Corps as helicopter pilots. [6]

The post-Taliban years

In 2004, Latifa was married in an arranged marriage to a doctor's aide, and her sister was also married, but continued to fly after their marriage. [4] In 2006, both sisters became pregnant. They were still flying missions for as long as they were able during their pregnancies. [4] Latifa had no problem giving birth to her daughter, Malalai, but her sister Laliuma died in childbirth. [6] For some time, Nabizada breastfed both her daughter and her sister's daughter, Mariam, but when it became too much to take care of her niece, her grandmother took over the care for Mariam. [4] A few months later, Nabizada went back to work with the military, the first time without her sister. [4] Because her husband worked and there was no childcare or other family to take care of Malalai, Nabizada took her daughter with her to work and on flights in the helicopter. [4] Malalai was only 2 months old when she first flew in the helicopter. [6] She and her daughter had flown over 300 missions together by 2011. [7] Most of her missions with her daughter were humanitarian in nature. [7] Once her daughter was old enough to attend school, she started going. Nabizada has encouraged the military to provide childcare to the women that are starting to join. [6]

In 2013, Nabizada's family faced death threats from the Taliban due to her flying, so she was transferred to a desk job at the Afghan Ministry of Defense in Kabul. [8] [9]

Published works

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazar-i-Sharif</span> City in Balkh, Afghanistan

Mazar-i-Sharīf, also known as Mazar-e Sharīf or simply Mazar, is the fifth-largest city in Afghanistan by population, with an estimated 500,207 residents in 2021. It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by highways with Kunduz in the east, Kabul in the southeast, Herat in the southwest and Termez, Uzbekistan in the north. It is about 55 km (34 mi) from the Uzbek border. The city is also a tourist attraction because of its famous shrines as well as the Islamic and Hellenistic archeological sites. The ancient city of Balkh is also nearby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Security Assistance Force</span> NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan from 2001–2014

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined the establishment of a permanent Afghan government following the U.S. invasion in October 2001. ISAF's primary goal was to train the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and assist Afghanistan in rebuilding key government institutions; it gradually took part in the broader war in Afghanistan against the Taliban insurgency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afghan Air Force</span> Aerial service branch of the Afghan military

The General Command of the Air Force also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Air Force and the Afghan Air Force, is the air force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States invasion of Afghanistan</span> 2001 multinational military operation

Shortly after the September 11 attacks, the United States declared the war on terror and subsequently led a multinational military operation against Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The stated goal was to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the attacks under the leadership of Osama bin Laden, and to deny Islamist militants a safe base of operations in Afghanistan by toppling the Taliban government. The United Kingdom was a key ally of the United States, offering support for military action from the start of the invasion preparations. The American military presence in Afghanistan greatly bolstered the Northern Alliance, which had been locked in a losing fight with the Taliban during the Afghan Civil War. Prior to the beginning of the United States' war effort, the Taliban had seized around 85% of Afghanistan's territory as well as the capital city of Kabul, effectively confining the Northern Alliance to Badakhshan Province and smaller surrounding areas. The American-led invasion on 7 October 2001, marked the first phase of what would become the 20-year-long War in Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herat International Airport</span> Airport in Herat, Afghanistan

Herat International Airport, also known as Khwaja Abdullah Ansari International Airport, is located 10.5 km (6.5 mi) southeast of the city of Herat in western Afghanistan, east of the Herat-Farah road, close to Guzara in the Guzara District of the Herat Province. It is Afghanistan's fourth largest commercial airport after the Kabul International Airport in Kabul, the Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport in Kandahar and the Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi International Airport in Mazar-i-Sharif.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)</span> 1996–2001 civil war in Afghanistan

The 1996–2001 Afghan Civil War, also known as the Third Afghan Civil War, took place between the Taliban's conquest of Kabul and their establishing of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on 27 September 1996, and the US and UK invasion of Afghanistan on 7 October 2001: a period that was part of the Afghan Civil War that had started in 1989, and also part of the war in Afghanistan that had started in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kunduz Airport</span> Airport in Kunduz, Afghanistan

Kunduz Airport is located about 5 miles (8.0 km) southeast of Kunduz, the capital of Kunduz Province in Afghanistan. It is a domestic airport under the country's Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (MoTCA), and serves the population of Kunduz Province. Security in and around the airport is provided by the Afghan National Security Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazar-i-Sharif International Airport</span> Airport in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan

Mazar-e-Sharif International Airport, officially called Mawlana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi International Airport, is located about 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, which is around 15 minutes of driving distance from the center of the city.

<i>The Breadwinner</i> (novel) Novel by Deborah Ellis about Afghanistan from 1996-2001

The Breadwinner, is a children's novel by Deborah Ellis, first published in 2001. As of October 2013, the English-language edition of the book has had a run of 39 editions. The title of the book refers to the role of the protagonist, 11-year-old Parvana, who is forced by circumstances to be the breadwinner for her family in a war-torn Taliban-era in Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fall of Mazar-i-Sharif</span> First major offensive in the Afghanistan war following American intervention in 2001

The fall of Mazar-i-Sharif in November 2001 resulted from the first major offensive of the Afghanistan War after American intervention. A push into the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh Province by the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, combined with U.S. Army Special Forces aerial bombardment, resulted in the withdrawal of Taliban forces who had held the city since 1998. After the fall of outlying villages, and an intensive bombardment, the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces withdrew from the city. Several hundred pro-Taliban fighters were killed. Approximately 500 were captured, and approximately 1,000 reportedly defected. The capture of Mazar-i-Sharif was the first major defeat for the Taliban.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in Afghanistan</span> Rights of females in the country Afghanistan

Women's rights in Afghanistan are severely restricted by the Taliban. In 2023, the United Nations termed Afghanistan as the world's most repressive country for women. Since the US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban gradually imposed restrictions on women's freedom of movement, education, and employment. Women are banned from studying in secondary schools and universities, making Afghanistan the only country to prohibit females from studying beyond the sixth grade. Women are not allowed in parks, gyms, or beauty salons. They are forbidden from going outside for a walk or exercise, from speaking or showing any part of their face or body outside the home, or even from singing or reading from within their own homes if they could be heard by strangers outside. In extreme cases, women have reportedly been subjected to gang-rape and torture in Taliban prisons.

Siri Skare was the first female aviator in the armed forces of Norway. She died during a demonstration in Mazar-i-Sharif in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qadria Yazdanparast</span> Afghan politician

Qadriya Yazdanparast is an Afghan politician and a commissioner at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. Before joining the human rights commission she resigned from her leadership position at the Jamiat-e Islami Afghanistan, a major political party, in order to fulfill the requirement of a commissioner to be non-political. She started her career during the Soviet–Afghan War. She studied jurisprudence and political science at Kabul University. Yazdanparast speaks Pashto, Dari, Dutch and English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niloofar Rahmani</span> First female Afghan Air Force pilot

Niloofar Rahmani is the first female fixed-wing Air Force aviator in Afghanistan's history and the first female pilot in the Afghan Air Force since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Though her family received death threats, she persevered to complete her training and won the U.S. State Department's International Women of Courage Award in 2015.

The following lists events that happened during 2016 in Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">209th Corps (Afghanistan)</span> Military unit

The 209th 'Shaheen' (Falcon) Corps was a corps, or military district, of the Afghan National Army. Its headquarters, Camp Shaheen, was at Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province. It worked closely with the German-led Resolute Support Mission TAAC North, and had its 1st Brigade at Mazar-i-Sharif and a Second Brigade at Kunduz. A United States Army Corps of Engineers solicitation for Kunduz headquarters facilities for the Second Brigade was issued in March 2008. The corps was supported by the Mazar-i-Sharif Regional Support Squadron of the AAF, equipped with eight helicopters: four transport to support the Corps' commando battalion, two attack, and two medical transport helicopters. In October 2015, as a response to the Battle of Kunduz, reports came that a new division would be formed in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khatool Mohammadzai</span> Afghan brigadier general (born 1966)

Khatool Mohammadzai is an Afghan brigadier general who served in the Afghan National Army. She was first commissioned in the military of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan during the 1980s, trained as one of the few female paratroopers; she has since logged over 600 jumps in her career. She continued to serve in the Afghan military as an instructor until the Taliban took power in 1996. Reinstated to the military created after the United States invasion in 2001, she became the first woman in Afghan history to reach general officer rank.

Women in the Soviet–Afghan War were active in a variety of roles.

References

  1. ↑ Perez, Armando (8 March 2013). "Afghan women honored for service to country". U.S. Army. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Moreau, Ron; Yousafzai, Sami (13 August 2013). "Afghanistan's Amelia Earhart". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  3. ↑ Annibale, Marcus (28 January 2013). "Women of Islam Soar in the Skies of South Asia". Flying. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Sara, Sally (28 June 2013). "Meet Latifa Nabizada, Afghanistan's first woman military helicopter pilot". Mama Asia. ABC. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  5. ↑ Otitigbe, Jessica (29 May 2015). "Continue To Reach for Equality and Inclusiveness in All Rights". The Approach. Archived from the original on 9 November 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Latifa Nabizada - Afghanistan's First Woman of the Skies". BBC News. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  7. 1 2 Shafi, Ahmad (15 September 2011). "A Long, Turbulent Journey For Afghan Female Pilot". NPR. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  8. ↑ Graham-Harrison, Emma (3 September 2013). "Afghanistan's forces losing more than a few good men. And women". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  9. ↑ "Women defy Islamists to serve in Afghan army". The Day. 29 January 2014. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.