Afghan Women Joining Armed Forces In Greater Numbers, Challenging Convention

November 01, 2010

By Farangis Najibullah

Khatool Muhammadzai loves martial arts, underwent commando training in pre-Taliban Afghanistan, and has logged 500 official jumps as the only female paratrooper in the country's post-Taliban military.

But the middle-aged general, Afghanistan's highest-ranking woman officer, wants to be known as a peacemaker.

Muhammadzai, who first served in Afghanistan's Moscow-backed military in the 1980s, rejoined the armed forces after the Taliban was overthrown in 2001. Today, through her work at the Defense Ministry on military education and training issues, Muhammadzai has emerged as a model of Afghanistan's ambitious plan to attract women into its military ranks and to raise the profile of women soldiers.

Women can play a key role in the government's efforts to build a modern military and defense force. But recruiting is no easy task in Afghanistan's deeply conservative society, where many don't even approve of women leaving their homes, let alone joining ranks in traditionally male-dominated organizations like the military.

For Muhammadzai, the question is elementary. "It's everybody's duty to serve their country, to protect it," the general says. "Why shouldn't Afghan women get involved? So many women from foreign countries are in Afghanistan as a part of international coalition troops and to protect our nation. For us, Afghanistan is our own home. Why shouldn't we serve our own country?"

Muhammadzai concedes, however, that despite her rank she still encounters people who are not ready to accept a woman in uniform. But with their numbers on the rise -- some 1,000 women are currently serving in the Afghan armed forces, up from a starting point of basically zero -- women soldiers are positioned to be not only peacemakers but groundbreakers.

Still In Harm's Way

Last month, 30 fresh recruits graduated to the Afghan military after completing six months of training at a Kabul-based academy set up exclusively for women.

There they mastered the types of weapons and military vehicles they would depend upon on the front line, although there is little chance of them being deployed into combat.