Latifa Nabizada - Afghanistan's first woman of the skies

Latifa Nabizada often shares her cockpit with her daughter - "She has grown up in a helicopter," she says

Col Latifa Nabizada, the first female pilot in the Afghan air force, has battled prejudice, the Taliban and personal tragedy - but her ambitions for her young daughter soar even higher.

My sister and I always talked about the stars and the universe.

We talked about how aeroplanes were made and what it would be like to fly one - how it would feel to be a pilot. There were water butts near where we lived and I used to climb on top and imagine I was flying a helicopter.

After we had finished school, Laliuma and I told our parents we wanted to be professional pilots. They were quite shocked. At the time, not many women in Afghanistan could work and there we were, thinking of becoming pilots. But we managed to convince them. My father's support was huge and it helped us a lot.

Latifa and Laliuma were repeatedly denied admission to the Afghan military school on medical grounds, but they eventually joined in 1989 after being certified fit by a civilian doctor. No women's uniforms existed, so they made their own.

We were the first two women pilots in Afghan air force history.

The other students threw stones at us. We used to leave the classroom in protest - then our teachers would come out and apologise and we would go back in. We were all so young and such things happened at that time. Considering the social conditions, people were quite positive about it.

We worked really hard and our exam results were quite good.

Of course, our male classmates weren't that happy and felt a bit jealous. But we didn't pay much attention to them. It was because of our sheer interest in the subject, and also with the blessing of God that we had potential and talent.

My first independent flight was an unforgettable experience. It was in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif, and the flight was part of my examination.

I flew - I flew and it felt really great. And I thought: "This is what you get after all that hard work." At the time my teachers kept saying: "Please pay attention! Look down at all those government officials, look at all those flowers in their hand! They are just waiting for you to come down and they will greet you."

That was a tremendous feeling - but I really had to pay attention to the landing. We have two kinds of landing and the horizontal one takes a lot of accurate calculation.

After becoming pilots, Laliuma and I were treated differently from the male graduates. There was war at that time - some provinces were secure and some provinces had conflict and insurgency. At first, we were told to only fly in the secure provinces.

In 1996, the Taliban secured Kabul and Latifa and Laliuma moved to Mazar-e Sharif.

General Dostum was commander at the time in northern Afghanistan and he helped us a lot, giving us a secure place to live. He wanted the news to go out all over the world that he was a supporter of women's rights. During his time we flew missions - we fought the Taliban.

Mazar-e Sharif was taken by the Taliban in 1998 - the last city in Afghanistan to fall to the insurgency

 

But before long, the women were forced to flee to Pakistan, where they wove carpets for several years, keeping a low profile and fearing for their lives. Eventually they were able to return to Kabul.

When people said the Taliban were on the way out and there would be another era for Afghanistan - women would work again, and be allowed to go out, and be able to do whatever they wanted - pleasant as that idea was, it was also unbelievable.

I got to Kabul at night, but I just couldn't wait. I went to the military base and said "I'm back and I want to start working again". They told me that there would be a celebration in Kabul in a couple of days' time and my first flight would be during that celebration. And it was beautiful.

Latifa and Laliuma were both married, and in 2006 they became pregnant within weeks of one another. They kept the news quiet from their commanding officers for as long as possible.

There was a need for us to fly and we flew a lot of missions during our pregnancies. Despite that, I managed to bring Malalai into the world well enough.

But my sister had a difficulty in her childbirth. The doctor at the time said she had a choice: "Do you want us to save your baby or yourself?" And she was in love with her baby and she said "Save the baby, whichever way you can."

The next day at 16:00 she lost her life.

All our life we had been together, played together, flown together. She was my strength and I was hers. And we had been through difficult missions and to the frontline, we had transferred dead bodies and the injured.

So many officials in the Air Force of Afghanistan told us: "We will never see the likes of you two again." She was an incredibly courageous woman.

I cannot tell you how it feels every day without her, bringing up her child.

In March Latifa (fifth left) took part in a photoshoot for International Women's Day

 

Latifa breast-fed her niece Mariam as well as her own daughter, with her mother helping with childcare. She went back to work within months of giving birth.

Unfortunately, there was nobody to take care of my daughter at home and there is no kindergarten in the military. So most of the time I took Malalai with me in the helicopter. She has grown up in a helicopter - sometimes I think she's not my daughter, but the helicopter's daughter!

She was almost two months' old when we first flew together.

She would fall into a deep sleep and wasn't any problem. As she grew up, she'd stand next to me and whenever she felt sleepy she would lay her head on my shoulder and fall asleep. When our American advisers saw this they would say, "Don't keep her here, she'll be in danger - put her in the cabin." But Malalai used to cling onto my clothes and say, "Mum, I don't want to go there, I don't want to go there!"

I would assure my American colleagues that if she stayed with me I would fly safely. We were very cautious - we only went together on the routes that we knew were secure.

Nowadays, my daughter goes to school during the day, but I have asked the military to make a kindergarten for the other girls that are coming off courses and starting their jobs here.

Customarily, when you ask a kid whose child they are they give their father's name, but Malalai always says "I am the daughter of Pilot Latifa". She is immensely proud - and so am I.

I think her journey will be much easier than the one Laliuma and I had. I'm so thankful to my father, for all the support that he gave us. Now, being a mother myself I'm aware of the difficulties a parent faces raising a child, making sure that he or she achieves all the goals that he or she desires.

She is very interested in space. My ambition is for her to go to space - to become the first astronaut for Afghanistan. I hope my country will provide such opportunities by the time Malalai has grown up.

Malalai says...

Five year-old Malalai is named after a Joan of Arc-like figure who rallied Afghan forces to defeat the British at the 1880 Battle of Maiwand. She also spoke to Outlook.
Malalai, do you enjoy flying in a helicopter?
Yes. I feel as if I am hugging the stars.
Do you ever get frightened in the helicopter?
No.
Do you ever want to push any of the buttons or hold the controls yourself?
No - what if something goes wrong? The helicopter will crash, God forbid!
What do you want to do when you grow up?
I want to become a pilot like my mother.

Photos of life in Afghanistan

A woman harvests wheat on the outskirts of Kabul on May 15. Afghans mainly use wheat to feed their animals.



Jawanmard Paiz, left and Fawad Mohammadi, stars of the Oscar-Nominated movie 'Buzkashi Boys,' arrive on the red carpet for the 85th Annual Academy Awards, Feb. 24 in Hollywood, Calif.




Young men cheer as Afghan and foreign musicians perform during the Sound Central Festival at the French Cultural Center in Kabul on May 1. The concert is part of a cross-cultural program to increase awareness of music and the arts in Afghanistan.



A street vendor sells balloons as he walks through the Karte Sakhi cemetery in Kabul on April 26. The cemetery, located at the foot of Kabul's TV Mountain, is located near the Karte Sakhi Shrine, the second most sacred place of Shia worship in the country.



An Afghan woman waits in a changing room to try out a new Burqa, in a shop in the old city of Kabul, April 11. Before the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, the Burqa was infrequently worn in cities. While they were in power, the Taliban required the wearing of a Burqa in public. Officially, it is not required under the present Afghan regime, but local warlords still enforce it in southern Afghanistan.




Afghan men peer through the former window of their destroyed school in the village of Budyali, Nangarhar province, March 19. Taliban militants attacked the nearby district headquarters in July 2011, then took refuge in the school. The Afghan National Army requested help from coalition forces, who responded with drones, fighter jets and rockets, leaving the school destroyed, according to village elders.


Afghan boys study at a makeshift school in the village of Budyali, Nengarhar Province, March 19.



Afghan Hazara and visiting foreign skiers set off at the start of the Afghan Ski Challenge in the Shahidan Valley of Bamiyan province, March 1. Seventeen Afghans and twelve foreigners participated in the third annual Afghan Ski Challenge in Bamiyan during which the Afghan Hazara men won the first three positions.



Students study at a dormitory of Nangarhar University on the outskirts of Jalalabad, Feb. 23. Fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan consumes most of the country's resources and rebuilding the educational system is not a political priority.



A model presents a traditional Afghan dress at a fashion show, launched by Young Women for Change (YWC), in Kabul, Feb. 8. The YWC organization is made up of volunteers across Afghanistan, who organize events to help empower Afghan women and improve their lives through social and economic participation. The creations at the fashion show are designed by Afghan women.



Afghan school children study at an open classroom in the outskirts of Jalalabad, Jan. 30. Afghanistan has had only rare moments of peace over the past 30 years, its education system was undermined by the Soviet invasion of 1979, a civil war in the 1990s and five years of Taliban rule.



An Afghan man poses for a portrait at a refugee camp in Herat on Jan. 2, 2013. Hundreds of families living in makeshift shelters around the Afghan capital Kabul collected blankets, charcoal and other supplies on Jan. 2 as authorities struggle to avoid last year's deadly winter toll. With temperatures dropping to -10 Celsius (14 Fahrenheit) at night in the city, the 35,000 refugees who live in the snow-covered camps face a battle to survive dire conditions protected only by plastic sheeting.

Afghans take over national security from US-led forces

'Day of honor': Afghans take over national security from US-led forces

A deadly explosion in Kabul claimed three lives and injured dozens while, in another part of the city, US-led NATO troops handed control to Afghanistan's local forces. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

By Akbar Shinwari and Sohel Uddin, NBC News

KABUL, Afghanistan – U.S.-led troops handed complete control of security to Afghanistan authorities Tuesday – an act of faith in country’s fledgling police and army in the face of near-constant insurgent attacks.

The formal transfer of responsibility is major milestone in the process of withdrawal from the country, 12 years after NATO-led mission ISAF began its mission to end Taliban rule.
However, a botched car bomb that killed at least three civilians just before the official handover ceremony raising renewed questions about how the country’s 352,000-strong security forces will tackle the militant threat.

Most foreign combat troops will leave the country by the end of 2014, but international funding and humanitarian aid will continue - prolonging the political headache for President Barack Obama over America's involvement in the conflict.

“Today is a day for all Americans to take pride in the hard work our service members and their civilian counterparts are performing every day in Afghanistan,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement that called Tuesday’s handover a “critical milestone.”
Ordinary Afghans may be harder to convince.
“It is a good decision that the Afghan forces are taking the responsibility because it is their own country and they are the one who should be responsible for the security,” said Kabul restaurant owner Mohammad Faried, adding: “I still have doubts. If they do not have good weapons it will be hard for them to keep peace and stability in the country especially in the villages.”

Jawad Jalali / EPA

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, left, shakes hands with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen prior to Tuesday's ceremony in Kabul.

 

The U.S. and its allies have yet to decide exactly how long troops will remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014, and what their role should be.
Earlier this month, retired four-star general John Allen called on the U.S. to keep a larger force in Afghanistan than the 8,000-12,000 reportedly being considered by U.S. officials.
Among the problems is a high desertion rate in local police forces, meaning thousands of new recruits are needed each month.
A Congressional research report published in April said the Obama administration was also concerned that “weak and corrupt governance” in Afghanistan would hamper the fight against the Taliban.
In additional The Afghan army has suffered a sharp rise in casualties since it began slowly assuming greater control of security, the BBC reported.  By comparison, international coalition casualties have been steadily falling since 2010, it said.
Afghans are now responsible for security in all districts of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, completing a transfer of power from NATO that began in 2011.
“Is a great day for us, not only for the Afghan government but also for the Afghan nation,” said Janan Mosazai, spokesperson for the country's ministry of foreign affairs. “It is a big day of honor.”
The U.S. military is by far the single biggest group within ISAF’s steadily-shrinking force of about 100,000 foreign troops [PDF link here.]
The security handover means the remaining US-led forces will play only a supporting role, providing help if needed but no longer taking the lead in tackling insurgent attacks.
"We will continue to help Afghan troops in operations if needed,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at Tuesday’s ceremony. “But we will no longer plan, execute or lead those operations. And by the end of 2014, our combat mission will be completed. At that time, Afghanistan will be fully secured by Afghans.”
As combat troops are scaled down, the U.S. focus will shift to Special Operations forces who will advise the Afghan military on hunting down top insurgent or terrorist leaders.
On any day in Afghanistan, about 60 Special Operations teams are working with Afghan local police forces to provide security in villages, according to a New York Times report.
The target of Tuesday's suicide car bomb attack was prominent lawmaker and Shia Muslim cleric Mohammed Mohaqiq, police at the scene told The Associated Press.
Gen. Mohammad Zahir, chief of the Kabul Criminal Investigation Division, told the AP three people were killed by the bombing and another 30 were wounded — including six bodyguards. Mohaqiq survived the attack, Reuters reported.
In March, Karzai publicly criticized the American presence in his country, causing embarrassment to U.S. defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, during his first visit to Kabul in the new role.

US and Taliban meeting soon to begin complex talks to end war, officials say

By Jim Miklaszewski, Courtney Kube and Erin McClam, NBC News

 

U.S. and Taliban representatives will meet soon for the first time to begin what are expected to be long and complex negotiations for a peaceful settlement to the war in Afghanistan, senior Obama administration officials said Tuesday.
The officials told NBC News that the meeting will take place in the next several days in the Qatari capital of Doha. The Taliban will open an office there for the purpose of negotiating directly with the Afghan government, the officials said.

The negotiating conditions require the Taliban to break their ties with al Qaeda, end the violence and accept the Afghan constitution, especially the protections for women and minorities, the officials said.
But because of deep distrust between the Afghan government and the Taliban, the process will be “complex, long and messy,” one official said. The United States "will have a role in direct talks, but this is a negotiation that will have to be led by Afghans," a senior administration official said.
The disclosure came on the same day that international forces, led by the United States, handed control of Afghan national security to local forces — a milestone after almost 12 years of war. Most foreign combat troops will leave the country by the end of 2014.
Obama administration officials also told NBC News that the U.S. is pursuing a prisoner exchange with the Taliban to secure the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, held for several years by the Haqqani network, considered a dangerous element of the Taliban.

Afghans prepare to take over security from US, NATO

AP Photo: Allauddin Khan. Afghan National Army soldiers march in Sangin district of Kandahar province southern Afghanistan. Afghanistan's fledgling security forces will soon take the lead for security nationwide. 

 

By Patrick Quinn of Associated Press            

 

JALALABAD, Afghanistan — One of the most significant turning points in one of America's longest and costliest wars is imminent: Afghanistan's fledgling security forces are taking the lead for security nationwide, bringing the moment of truth on the question of whether they are ready to fight an insurgency that remains resilient after nearly 12 years of conflict.

Nowhere is that question more pressing than in this city near the Pakistani border, which is the capital of Nangarhar province. In the province, which has a predominantly Pashtun population, the ethnic group that makes up the Taliban, insurgents regularly ambush government forces, blow up the offices of humanitarian organizations, and control parts of a countryside that has seen a spike in opium poppy cultivation.
Nangarhar is considered so dangerous that foreign military forces still handle security in more than half of its 22 districts.
That will change, after Afghan President Hamid Karzai declares — in an announcement expected soon — that Afghan forces are taking over security around the country and U.S. and other foreign forces will move entirely into a supporting, backseat role. At that point, the remaining districts in Nangarhar, along with other hotspots still in the hands of the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force, will become the Afghan troops' full responsibility.

Residents of Jalalabad, a bustling trading hub and agricultural center on the junction of two rivers, worry about whether the Afghan forces can keep them safe from an insurgency that they say is equipped and trained in neighboring Pakistan. They also fear that the Afghan forces still don't have enough heavy weapons or firepower.
"Our main concern is that for more than 10 years the international community managed to do nothing and that they are now trying to make us strong. It's too little too late," said Lal Mohammad Durrani, a member of the Nangarhar provincial council. "We need more weapons."
NATO training since 2009 has dramatically ramped up the Afghan National Security Forces, bringing it up from 40,000 men and women six years ago to about 352, 000 today. Once the transition is announced, coalition troops will move entirely into a supporting role — training and mentoring, and in emergency situations providing the Afghans backup in combat, mainly in the form of airstrikes and medevac.

AP Photo: Allauddin Khan. An Afghan National Army soldier aims his weapon, in Sangin district of Kandahar province southern Afghanistan.

That is to pave the way for international forces — currently numbering about 100,000 troops, including 66,000 Americans — to leave. By the end of the year, the NATO force will be halved. At the end of 2014, all combat troops will have left and will replaced, if approved by the Afghan government, by a much smaller force that will only train and advise. President Barack Obama has not yet said how many soldiers he will leave in Afghanistan along with NATO forces, but it is thought that it would be about 9,000 U.S. troops and about 6,000 from its allies.
In a series of wide-ranging interviews with Afghan and western military officials, experts and analysts, opinions are mixed as to the state of readiness of the Afghan forces — although nearly all agree they are far better now than they were when the NATO training mission began.
British Lt. Gen. Nick Carter, the deputy commander of coalition forces, said the transition to take the lead in security "represents a significant achievement for the Afghan security forces." But, he added, "That said we will require and need to deliver for the Afghans some fairly significant support for a while to come."
Already, Afghans now carry out 90 percent of military operations around the country. They are in the lead in security in 312 districts nationwide, where 80 percent of Afghanistan's population of nearly 30 million lives — and only 91 districts remain for them to take over — including 12 in Nangarhar.
The transition comes at a time when violence is at levels matching the worst in 12 years, fueling some Afghans' concerns the forces aren't ready.
"We thought this summer would not be easy for the Afghan security forces, but it was not expected to be like this. We have roadside bombs, we have suicide attacks, organized attacks," said Jawed Kohistani, an Afghan political and military analyst. "It is a mistake to transition this quickly."
Jalalabad's relatively peaceful tree-lined streets are crowded with checkpoints, manned by often edgy Afghan army and police worried about car bombs. Insurgents use the province's mountain passes and valleys to sneak in from neighboring Pakistan, where they retain safe havens in that country's lawless Pashtun-dominated tribal belt. Jalalabad is also just a 3-hour drive through craggy passes and gorges to Kabul, which has seen a spate of spectacular suicide attacks in recent weeks.

AP Photo: Rahmat Gul. Al Hajj Malak Nazir, director of the provincial council is convinced the Taliban will keep fighting after Afghanistan's army and police shortly take control for security around the country.

 

Al Hajj Malak Nazir — the local head of the Afghan High Peace Council, a body created in an attempt to reach out to the Taliban — said that even though he considers Afghan forces to be under-equipped, he believes they will eventually prevail over the insurgency.
"The Taliban can't take all of Afghanistan. After transition they could take a district, but they won't be able to keep it," he said. That. He added, is why he has been trying to convince the Taliban to enter negotiations.
"This is a very good opportunity for the Taliban to say they will stop fighting. But they won't," he said. "The Americans are now saying they are leaving, but the Taliban never say they are leaving."
Few believe the Taliban will keep promises they have made in the past to stop fighting when foreign military forces are gone. They have not stopped in any province where Afghan forces have taken the lead.  They have also rebuffed numerous attempts to start peace talks in the past year and have instead intensified a campaign that mostly targets urban centers and government installations.
There is overall agreement, however, they don't have much support outside their traditional areas and can't win militarily against the Afghan forces.
"I think, if the Taliban tried to come back, it would have to come back in a very different way. It would have to come back and participate politically," Lt. Gen. Carter said. "It is my sense that civil society, which is the future of this country, absolutely would not put up with sorts of standards that were here 15 years ago. And, therefore, my sense is that ultimately it is the politics that will determine this, and not the violence that determines this."
On battlefields around the country, Afghan forces plan and carry out operations on their own, with little help from coalition forces. They are often effective, but still need work on logistics and effectively using the weapons they have.
Casualty figures are indicative of the fight. More than 330 Afghan army soldiers have died so far this year, according to a tally by the Associated Press.

Last year, more than 1,200 Afghan soldiers died, compared to more than 550 in 2011, according to data compiled by the Washington-based Brookings Institution. By comparison, coalition casualties have declined as they take forces off the battlefield — 81 so far this year, 394 in 2012 and 543 in 2011.
About 1,481 militants were reported to have been killed by coalition and Afghan forces so far this year, compared with close to 3,000 militants for all of last year. The NATO command does not issue reports on the number of insurgents its troops have killed, and Afghan military figures, from which the AP compiles its data, cannot be independently verified.

AP Photo: Rahmat Gul. Afghan Army Chief of Staff Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi has backed the national army and police to ensure safety in Afghanistan when it takes responsibility for security.

 

"There is no doubt about the ability of the Afghan national army and police. The nation should trust them, and they do," said the Afghan Army Chief of Staff Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi.
The veteran commander rattled off a series of recent victories over insurgents, including kicking them out of parts of eastern Nuristan that they had controlled for about two years.
"There wasn't a single bit of support from the international community. Only the Afghan national army and national police were able to do that and they did it," he said.
But he grudgingly agreed Afghan troops still need help. That includes the use of coalition air power — including medical evacuations — help with locating roadside bombs and further developing the armed forces. They also need to bring down an attrition rate of 3 to 4 percent a month, which means NATO now has to help train 50,000 new recruits a year.
The U.S. has said that Afghanistan will get the weapons it requires to fight an insurgency, including a large fleet of MI-17 transport helicopters, cargo planes and ground support airplanes. The heaviest weapon the Afghan army will have is a howitzer.
"The force is designed according to the threat, and the threat here is an insurgency. The design of the ANSF is appropriate to counter that threat," said German Gen. Hans-Lothar Domrose, the commander of the NATO force that oversees ISAF.
The Afghans, on the other hand, want battle tanks and modern fighter jets — which they are unlikely to get given their cost and the training required to use them.
The war has already proven very costly
Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction John Sopko last April estimated that the ANSF has so far cost the American taxpayer $54 billion. The overall cost of the war is more difficult to estimate, but for America alone the Center for Strategic and International Studies put the price at about $650 billion through the end of 2013.