Abdullah Abdullah, who was a top official in Afghanistan’s former Western-backed government, said he was saddened by Nabizada’s death and hoped the perpetrators would be punished. He described her as a “representative and servant of the people”.

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A former Kandahar parliamentarian, Malalai Ishaqzai, also offered her condolences.

Nabizada was elected in 2019 to represent Kabul and stayed in office until the Taliban takeover.

She was a member of the parliamentary defence commission and worked at a private non-governmental group, the Institute for Human Resources Development and Research.

The Taliban have said they are focused on securing the country and encouraging Afghans to return, but several attacks have taken place in recent months, including one at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week that killed and wounded dozens of people and was claimed by Islamic State.

In December, one person was killed in a suicide bomb attack near the Kabul office of the Hezb-e-Islami party, while its leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who was Afghanistan’s prime minister in the 1990s, was inside.

Reuters, AP