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Mohammad Ismail / Reuters
Fatima, 13, holds a picture of her mother, Narges Rezaeimomenabad, at her home in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday. Her mother is suspected of killing a U.S. contractor at a police headquarters in Kabul.
KABUL — The Afghan policewoman suspected of killing a U.S. contractor at police headquarters in Kabul suffered from mental illness and was driven to suicidal despair by poverty, her children told Reuters on Wednesday.
The woman was identified by authorities as Narges Rezaeimomenabad, a 40-year-old grandmother and mother of three who moved here from Iran 10 years ago and married an Afghan man.
On Monday morning, she loaded a pistol in a bathroom at the police compound, hid it in her long scarf and shot an American police trainer, apparently becoming the first Afghan woman to carry out such an attack.
Narges also tried to shoot police officials after killing the American. Luckily for them, her pistol jammed. Her husband is also under investigation.
Her son Sayed, 16, and daughter Fatima, 13, described how they tried to call their parents after news broke of the shooting, then waited in vain for them to come home.
They recalled Narges's severe mood swings, and how at times she beat them and even pulled out a knife. But the children said she was consistent in bemoaning poverty.
"She was usually complaining about poverty. She was complaining to my father about our conditions. She was saying that my father was poor," Sayid said in an interview in their damp, cold two-room cement house.
On the floor beside him were his mother's prescriptions and a thick plastic bag filled with pills she tried to swallow to end the misery about a month ago. On another occasion, she cut her wrist with a razor, Sayed said.
US civilian killed by Afghan policewoman in Kabul
"My father was usually calm and sometimes would say that she was guilty too because it wasn't a forced marriage. They fell in love and got married."
There was no sign in their neighbourhood of the billions of dollars of Western aid that have poured into Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001, or of government investment.
Raw sewage, dirt roads
The lane outside their home stank of raw sewage.
Dirty, stagnant water filled holes in dirt roads nearby, where children in tattered clothes played and butchers stood by cow's hooves in shops choked by dust.
Afghanistan is one of the world's poorest nations, with a third of its 30 million residents living under the poverty line.
The sole distractions from the daily grind appeared to be a deck of playing cards and a compact disc with songs from Iranian pop singers, scattered on the floor of a room where Narges would lock herself in and weep, or sit in silence.
At times, Narges would try to focus on building her children's confidence, telling them to be guided by the Muslim holy book, the Koran, to tackle life's problems.
Taliban says US base targeted in Afghan blast
Sayed and Fatima said she never spoke badly of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan or of President Hamid Karzai's government.
Neighbour Mohammad Ismail Kohistani was dumbfounded to hear on the radio that Afghan officials were combing Narges' phone records to try to determine whether al Qaeda or the Taliban could have brainwashed her into carrying out a mission.
But he was acutely aware of her mental problems and often heard her scream at her husband, whose low-level job in the crime investigation unit of the police brought home little cash.
Kohistani, who operates a small sewing shop with battered machines, never imagined his neighbour could be accused of a high-profile attack that raised new questions about the direction of an unpopular war.
"I became very depressed and sad," said Kohistani, sitting on the floor few feet from a tiny wood-burning stove in Narges'shome, alongside family photographs and a police training manual.
Fatima would often seek refuge in Kohistani's house when her mother's behaviour became unbearable. "She did not hate us, but usually she was angry and would not talk to us," said Fatima, her eyes moist with tears.
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Nevertheless, she missed her mother. The children were staying with a cousin.
"I ask the government to free my mother, otherwise our future will be destroyed," said Fatima.
Officials described it as another "insider shooting", in which Afghan forces turn on Westerners they are meant to be working with to stabilize the country. There have been over 52 such attacks so far this year.
The shooting at the police headquarters may have alarmed Afghanistan's Western allies. But some Afghans have grown numb to the violence.
Kohistani's 70-year-old father, Omara Khan, who sports a white beard, sat twirling prayer beads beneath a photograph of Narges in a black veil beside one of her husband.
Asked what he thought of the attack, he laughed.
"This is common in Afghanistan," said Khan, who lived through decades of upheaval, including the 10-year Soviet occupation and a civil war that destroyed half of Kabul and killed some 50,000 civilians.
"People are killed every day."
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Leave a Comment:
Mental illness...poverty...she had a gun...she murdered someone...and this makes her different from the remaining population of Afghanistan...how...
It doesn't speak well for their hiring practices.
The Jihad aged children didn't see a problem. They asked the Gov to release her.
An illegal Iranian immigrant married to a police man.
Both with security clearance I guess.
Islam and Koran gave her and most of Afghans and Pakis poverty!
So Narges and many like her became mentally ill and started killing!
So Narges took out knife even on children.
If these are excuses for killing those helping like the adviser, drone attacks are not enough.
Carpet bombing of the whole Islamic killer areas will be required to reduce losses.
Nailed it. They're all batsh1t crazy over there.
My thoughts exactly! Maybe instead of Polio Vaccine we should be giving them Lyrica or some other mind altering drug. Or is that already in progress?
One good thing about the Islamic mentally ill, Narges is that she did not become a child producing slave despite poverty!
Most men of the followers of Islamic cult believe that their females have to go on producing as many as Allah's followers possible.
Here many followers of Sharia Laws don't bother about the age of females, poverty and the conditions around.
And by "mentally ill", they mean Muslim. Their new conversion slogan: "Islam, the crazy religion". That closely beat out, "Islam, we are all nuts and murderers!"
You have to be criminally insane to continue the war in Afghanistan.
How was she ever accepted into the police force, mentally ill, suicidal, on drugs and Iranian, what are the guidelines, you have to be breathing?
You beat me to it Antistupidity.
Hiring practices for the police force. Wonderful...
I'm sure she was vetted by one of those $300,000 a year contractors to US government.
She immigrated from Iran.... the other place where billions of US dollars were spent, and "lost" and lives of the civilians there were reduced to the same poverty and rubble as their infrastructure.
She goes to Afghanistan, where we throwing away more billions of dollars that no one can account for, marries, has children, both she and her husband work, they live in a two room cement hovel, she's still surrounded by death, destruction, poverty....
Her children don't see the murder of an American as anything to be worked up about and are asking that she be sent home...
There is no winning any "war" in this land. These people are so far outside our ideas of what "normal" is we can never fathom their mind set. Washington is being played for the money we send, and while its stupidity is widely known and accepted, this is beyond ludicrous, and our people are dying from it.
Is Randy Quaid of Star Whackers Islamic? I think not. :)
More gun control laws in Afghanistan now!
In Islam, Koran and Sharia laws, there are no gun control laws!
If the opponents happen to be infidels, then guns are to be aimed at them.
Homosareperverts banned, re-reg of multiple accounter fukOJ and others.
This is a big lie; she should be shot to death in the spot where she killed the American contractor. Or she should be handled to the American authority. Mental illness is just an excuse used by afghanistan government, so she can get away with the murder. If she killed an Afghanistan police man, they would have shot her immediately. Pull our troops back immediately and bring every single American back to this country. They do not appreciate our help. We have been too long; these animals hate us there. On the other hands, the love our money.
With an average of one a week, I wonder how many dead and wounded have resulted and what has happened to the attackers. Her husband is also under investigation, was payment offered/taken for the attack?
Wait a minute!
Hope you know that British invented Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. US, British and allies kept them on the map!
9/11 was due to Saudis and Pakis.
Still they became "strategic allies" on war on terror for Bush and co!
Gen Mush, the biggest backstabber in Afghanistan, was Bush's pal. Gen Mush is in UK as a reward for backstabbing and looting economic aid.
Karzai and more ungrateful backstabbing lecture masters are on the way!
In Afghanistan, Pakis have backstabbed the US and NATO forces big time. Half of NATO forces deaths are due to ungrateful and backstabbing Pakis.
When the NATO forces were entering Kandahar in 2001, Pakis airlifted key al-Qaida, Taliban, ISI and others militants by back door from Kandahar.
This includes Mullah Omar, Osama and many including Paki Haqqani militant network leaders.
Hope people remember about Pakis sheltering Osama.
These Paki Islamic religious Nazis don't bother about their people and they are into reckless killing games in the name of jihad.
Drone attacks are not enough. To reduce NATO forces losses, carpet bomb Paki militant areas just like 1991 Iraqi war.
Or just say; bye, bye once for all to Afghanistan and Pakistan. No more: reconstruction, encouraging moderate Muslims, helping the needy and all those business crap!
It's the red beady eyes. You don't need to be a psychologist.
Nothing says "Run for the hills!" like a burqa and red beady eyes.
Men are still 99.9999% of the killing of Americans. Good odds.
I lean in favor of arming Afghan women to even the odds. Let Allah figure out who will rule the new Afghanistan after giving guns to the women.
Of course your numbers are wrong, but, who cares.
In America, A mentally ill kid kills children with a gun....America jumps to arms and states we need to take guns away from all Americans. In Afghanistan a Police woman kills an AMERICAN SOLDIER, with a gun and MSNBC jumps on the story that she was mentally ill. No the American was mentally ill and killed children and the Afgan was sympathetic to the Taliban and killed a peacemaker. Sorry MSNBC, you just did a major "spin"... Sorry Michael, third story in a month and your nose is growing!
Thank you NBC for writing such a nice piece about this poor killer.
I think she should be given an award. Taliban will reward her family.
She is my new American Idol.
Just flush after use.
No matter her reasons, it is a very sad day when somebody kills another human being for no for apparent reason.She may be mentally ill but the U.S. will not be anymore help to people in Afghanistan for their mental health conditions anymore than they have for our citizens in the U.S. The money that has been pumped into that country has gone into their government's pockets and has not made any of their citizens lives better or improved their infrastructure.Afghanistan is just another corrupt government that our tax dollars are supporting.
So she is an ass also. What women is not like that?
Certainly not your mother! Right?
OOOOOKKKKKK. I live at 52% below the poverty level because my hours have been cut at my job in this great and rich country and I have untreated bi-polar because I have no medical coverage. I live many of my days in personal despair. I am not out killing anyone nor do I have a thought to do such a thing. Give me an 'effin break!!
Because of reckless wars, especially Iraqi wars, to save the fountainhead of Islamic mentally sick Sunni extremist rulers of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE and others, many have been brought to your state.
Those ungrateful and backstabbing barbaric and beastly Sunni rulers manipulated high oil prices at our back; made themselves rich; funded their sick extremist Sunni Salaffi and Wahhabi mosques, hate preaching and killer training centers, all over the world; and gave us in return huge unemployment; cut in benefits and high inflation; and lastly high US debts.
Let me not state my daughter's case despite masters!
Look, whatever did happen there makes no dent in the whole damn sickeny situation in that country.the Rusians were there for 20 years got their ass wipped and left their own country almost broke,then America stepped in and for 10 years we have tried to help these people spend big heaps of taxpayers mony,build schools for this people to be burned down by the Taliban and the teaches killed,and the people do not like us to be there to begin with, that should have been proven by now i would say. We lost too many soldiers in this sandbox and yes it helpt killing a American economy to what it is today,they only like the milions of dollars we send them every year other than that they hate us,the police forces we trained for too many years already turn around and shoot our soldiers down point blank, there is nothing changed in that country after all the years we have been there,it's time to pull everything back and I mean everything right now and not a day later and use that wasted money to get our own country going again.( an old veteran)
Ah! a MENTAL case so she will be spared punishment? Is this a prelude to spare that American guy who killed at night?
They should pass stricter gun control laws in Afghanistan.
So Islam, poverty and mental illness drove Narges to this killing! What an excuse!
Before followers of Islamic cult set their feet on Afghan and Paki regions, these regions were quite peaceful and prosperous.
Once the cancer of Islam gradually got control of the region, those regions have become raping, stealing, looting and killing fields.
In Afghanistan, Paki proxies Taliban did not even tolerate Buddha’s statue in Bamiyan.
Many Paki areas and some Afghan areas have become breeding and exporting centers for illegal activities including drugs growing and trading and export of Islamic radicals and terrorists all over the world.
British invented Pakistan in 47 and Pakistan is supposed to be a pure Islamic nation. In Pakistan, it was massive genocides of minorities in between 48-50.
Percentages of Hindus and Sikhs were reduced from about 24 percent less than three years by rapings, stealing, lootings, terrorizing and killing on a massive scale.
Paki Islamic religious madness did not end there.
Sunni Pakis are after Ahmedias, Sufis (fake love and dance Islamic soap opera people), Shiites (20 percent), Hazaras, and Baloochs and other minority sects/tribes.
Shiites, Sufis, Ahmedias and other minority sects/tribes people are blown up while they pray in their mosques on Fridays. And even hospitals are bombed to kill those injured.
Has not Islam made many insane in Pakistan and Afghanistan?
We are mentally ill to be there in Frankinstan.
Bin Laden is dead, either recently or years ago. Dead.
We never even showed evidence he did 9/11 we just invaded there like bats out of hell.
We never even showed evidence we killed him we just cheered like the nut cases we are.
No evidence, none. All we have is khalid sheikh mohammed who said he planned it with Bin Laden, but we witness tampered in the extreme. We killed the primary witness. We tortured KSM for years and years. His mind is jelly, like ours. Our screwed up story of 9/11 will now be completed from a tortured mental case.
Delusion all delusion. Why are we there now?
We're hoping that you get some treatment for your psychotic paranoia, but you seem quite satisfied to live in you delusional little world. Maybe your tinfoil hat needs to be loosened up, as it might be interrupting blood flow to wherever your brain used to be.
To all those stupid enough to blame poverty, hunger… or ISLAM… you should first know that she was an IRANIAN and that she is most probably assigned by the Iranian Gov. to kill US advisors... like many other spy agencies in the region…. To destroy Afg US relations… how else can a woman come all the way from Iran to afganistan get a fake ID and join no other establishment than the Afghan police and then one day shoot out at some foreign advisor… its clear she was a spy!!!!
Anyone who continues living in Afghanistan by choice is mentally ill. An entire nation of mentally ill people! After the US troops finally pull out, they'll just revert to killing each other on the basis of their particular Islamic beliefs being different from their neighbors. Even the crocodiles won't weep for them.
SPIN SPIN SPIN. As I recall, the gunmen who shot Malala were young boys, too. YEAH RIGHT. What's the next EXCUSE we are going to hear about these monsters? Oh, they must've mistaken you for a little green man from Mars, KABOOM.
Sorry, not buying any of it. It's the monsters of that part of the world, doing what monsters do. We have our own share of monsters in the US, we really don't need to deal with any others. I think we are plenty busy with our own. Fortunately, the vast majority of monsters live in that part of the world called the Middle East (and surrounding countries of 'stans.)
We should leave, shake the dirt off our feet, build a wall around them, and let them eat one another. That's what they do, that's what they have always done. We will never get them to change their murderous ways. They are not our friends or allies. They have never been, either. They just want to pilfer our money from our pockets, and then point fingers at us because their lives suck.
Nope, this excuse is just another SPIN.
I really cannot imagine anyone in Afghanistan who is not in the immediate circle of government officials and drug traffickers being above the poverty level -- or any Muslim in those conditions NOT being mentally ill. That doesn't make it right to kill anyone, but it does show what we're really up against in that Godforsaken country and Pakistan.
We need to get out of this place. America has no business meddling in the affairs of foreign countries, we are NOT the world's police. The only reason we are doing this is to keep American businesses flowing with jobs. Our young people are getting killed constantly over there and it keeps us in a state of grieving because of dirty politicians who think it is cute to keep sending our children over there to get killed. Bin Laden is dead already.
So now the Islamic are using mental illness to define their religion?
That would be about right, because religion is a metal illness.
Be careful how you piss all over her defense - Bales might want to use the same one.
Why is she being made out to be the victim?