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Saba Sahar, Afghan Actress, Director, and Activist, Shot and Hospitalized

Sahar is one of Afghanistan’s first female directors. Her husband says she was on her way to work when three gunmen opened fire on her car.

Afghan actress, director, and activist Saba Sahar has been hospitalized after three men fired into her car while she was on her way to work in Kabul.

Sahar is one of Afghanistan’s best known actresses and first female directors—as well as a prominent women’s rights activist. She’s also a high-ranking police officer and vocal critic of the Taliban. She was recently promoted to a deputy position overseeing the special forces dedicated to gender issues, and has used her police experience to inform her films and documentaries.

Sahar’s husband, Emal Zaki, told the BBC that Sahar was in the car with four other people when the gunmen opened fire on the vehicle—the driver, two bodyguards, and a child.

Four bullets hit Sahar during the shooting, and she received a successful operation in the hospital, CBS News reports. The bodyguards were wounded, while the child and the driver escaped unharmed, per Reuters.

Police told Reuters that the gunmen escaped; they are currently investigating.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied that the insurgent group—which, as well as ISIS, CBS notes, has regularly staged attacks in Kabul—had any involvement in Sahar’s shooting. As Reuters notes, unidentified gunmen in Kabul also recently shot women’s rights advocate Fawzia Koofi.

In a statement responding to the shooting, Amnesty International wrote, “The rise in attacks and assassination attempts on human rights defenders, political activists, journalists and film actors is extremely worrying. These attacks must be investigated and the perpetrators held accountable. The authorities must protect everyone at risk.”

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Laura BradleySenior Entertainment Reporter

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