A suicide attack targeting an Afghan provincial governor killed at least eight people Monday, officials said, as the president visited Qatar where slow-moving peace talks with the Taliban are taking place.

Twenty eight people were wounded when the attacker rammed his explosives-filled vehicle into the convoy of Rahmatullah Yarmal, the governor of eastern Laghman province.

"The governor was driving to his office when his car was hit. Four of his bodyguards and four civilians were killed, 28 wounded," the governor's spokesman Assadullah Daulatzai told AFP, adding that the governor was unhurt.

Interior Ministry spokesman Tareq Arian confirmed the attack and said most of the wounded were civilians.

It came as President Ashraf Ghani arrived in Doha on Monday to meet with Qatari officials, three weeks after the launch of peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Ghani first stopped in Kuwait to offer condolences over the death of emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, his spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.

He went on to meet Afghan government negotiators in Doha as well as Soltan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi, Qatar's state minister for foreign affairs.

"Ghani heard from the delegation and spoke briefly to show his full support for the negotiation and peace process," negotiator Nader Naderi said.

Talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, aimed at ending Afghanistan's 19-year conflict, have slowed over disagreements on how to frame a code of conduct that will guide the broader talks.

The Taliban, who are Sunni hardliners, are insisting on adherence to the Hanafi school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence, but the government negotiators say this could be used to discriminate against Hazaras, who are predominantly Shia, and other minorities in the country.

Another contentious topic is how the US-Taliban deal will shape a future peace deal and how it will be referred to.&nbsp;

No group claimed responsibility for the Laghman attack, but the Taliban are active in the region.

On Saturday, a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle full of explosives at the entrance an administrative building in eastern Nangarhar province, killing 15 people, mostly civilians, officials said.&nbsp;

A suicide attack targeting an Afghan provincial governor killed at least eight people Monday, officials said, as the president visited Qatar where slow-moving peace talks with the Taliban are taking place.

A suicide attack targeting an Afghan provincial governor killed at least eight people Monday, officials said, as the president visited Qatar where slow-moving peace talks with the Taliban are taking place. Twenty eight people were wounded when the attacker rammed his explosives-filled vehicle into the convoy of Rahmatullah Yarmal, the governor of eastern Laghman province. "The governor was driving to his office when his car was hit. Four of his bodyguards and four civilians were killed, 28 wounded," the governor's spokesman Assadullah Daulatzai told AFP, adding that the governor was unhurt. Interior Ministry spokesman Tareq Arian confirmed the attack and said most of the wounded were civilians. It came as President Ashraf Ghani arrived in Doha on Monday to meet with Qatari officials, three weeks after the launch of peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Ghani first stopped in Kuwait to offer condolences over the death of emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, his spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said. He went on to meet Afghan government negotiators in Doha as well as Soltan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi, Qatar's state minister for foreign affairs. "Ghani heard from the delegation and spoke briefly to show his full support for the negotiation and peace process," negotiator Nader Naderi said. Talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, aimed at ending Afghanistan's 19-year conflict, have slowed over disagreements on how to frame a code of conduct that will guide the broader talks. The Taliban, who are Sunni hardliners, are insisting on adherence to the Hanafi school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence, but the government negotiators say this could be used to discriminate against Hazaras, who are predominantly Shia, and other minorities in the country. Another contentious topic is how the US-Taliban deal will shape a future peace deal and how it will be referred to. No group claimed responsibility for the Laghman attack, but the Taliban are active in the region. On Saturday, a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle full of explosives at the entrance an administrative building in eastern Nangarhar province, killing 15 people, mostly civilians, officials said.

Eight killed in attack targetting Afghan governor

Surrounded by male advisors and condescending &quot;mansplainers&quot;, Masooma Muradi holds her own against a deep underswell of sexism in a society unaccustomed to women exercising authority. 
 
Breaking new ground as Afghanistan&#39;s only female governor, Muradi&#39;s ascent to the top post in remote Daikundi province is a remarkable feat in Afghanistan, where stubborn patriarchal traditions are at odds with progressive ideas about a woman&#39;s place in the world. 
 
Travails of being solo governor&nbsp; 
 
Barely a year after President Ashraf Ghani appointed Muradi, her job hangs by a thread, with growing calls for her ouster from religious conservatives and opponents.&nbsp;It highlights the travails of being the only woman in an overwhelmingly male preserve. 
 
&quot;People claim to be open-minded, but many cannot bear having a woman in this position,&quot; Muradi, 37, told AFP, sinking into an overstuffed sofa in her office in the capital Nili, decorated with faux sunflowers and a large portrait of a pouting child. 
 
&quot;I won&#39;t allow men to hush me up; society is not used to that from a woman,&quot; she added. 
 
Barely five feet tall, Muradi&#39;s diminutive frame and soft demeanour belies her steely instinct for survival.&nbsp;The mother-of-two was handpicked by Ghani in Kabul to lead Daikundi, a mosaic of rolling hills and boulder-strewn ridges in central Afghanistan, hemmed in by insurgency-wracked provinces. 
 
But protests erupted even before she arrived in Daikundi, with political opponents, almost all men, pillorying her lack of governance experience.&nbsp;Muradi has since managed to hold on to the job, but the resentment was palpable when she recently stepped out in Nili with AFP, trailed by Kalashnikov-toting guards. 
 
&quot;Useless,&quot; one man barked as she passed by.&nbsp;&quot;Maybe she should be a governor just for women,&quot; another growled. 
 
&nbsp;Boys&#39; club&nbsp; 
 
Women have made giant strides since the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001, but they are still so absent from public life that the social media hashtag #WhereAreTheWomen has gained traction in Afghanistan. 
 
&quot;The attitudes throughout Afghanistan still are such that not everyone is ready to be governed by a woman,&quot; said Douglas Keh, Afghanistan country director at the United Nations Development Programme. 
 
&quot;Women leaders need all the support they can get,&quot; he added. 
 
Daikundi&#39;s administration has long been a boys&#39; club, which was apparent at a recent provincial council meeting, attended by more than a dozen men but just one woman. 
 
Swaddled in a blue scarf, she sat at the edge of the room doodling on the sofa upholstery using her finger as an imaginary pen.&nbsp;When she tried to talk, the man chairing the meeting stuck his palm up to make her stop.&nbsp;Only when a woman UNDP official attending the meeting asked for her view, was she able to speak. 
 
&quot;I recently replaced a man in the provincial council,&quot; she began.&nbsp;A council member interjected with a smirk.&nbsp;&quot;Say something about men&#39;s problems too,&quot; he said, setting off a ripple of titters. &quot;We really are worried about men&#39;s rights.&quot; 
 
Sexist wisecracks&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Paying lip service to women&#39;s empowerment is one thing but real empowerment comes with deference to a woman leader&#39;s authority,&quot; the UNDP official later said, referring to Muradi&#39;s struggles. 
 
Muradi, who holds a degree in business administration but lacks political clout, stands in strong contrast to warlords and strongmen who govern other provinces amid a deep-rooted system of patronage politics.&nbsp;The antipathy towards her, observers say, highlights not just sexism but also clashing political interests. 
 
Daikundi is among the most challenging of Afghanistan&#39;s 34 provinces to govern.&nbsp;Cut off from the outside world by heavy snow for several months of the year, its meagre almond harvests, mainstay of the local economy, are dependent on the brutal vagaries of weather.&nbsp;Rampant joblessness is a ticking time bomb and most development plans are just on paper. 
 
&quot;There are schools but most don&#39;t have buildings, there are hospitals but many don&#39;t have doctors,&quot; said Haji Rasouli, a grocery seller in Nili. 
 
&quot;I support women&#39;s empowerment but will having a woman governor solve all these problems?&quot; 
 
Ebbing international donor funding has exacerbated Muradi&#39;s struggles. 
 
&quot;Anyone in that position, man or woman, would struggle with dwindling resources,&quot; said Habibullah Radmanesh, Daikundi&#39;s deputy governor. 
 
After coming to power, Ghani has appointed four female ministers 
 
For his part, Ghani has appointed four female ministers since he came to power in 2014, risking political capital.&nbsp;Last year, for the first time in Afghanistan&#39;s history he nominated a woman to the supreme court, but when she was rejected by Parliament he appointed a man instead.&nbsp;He also dismissed the only other woman governor, of central Ghor province, after protests from religious conservatives. 
 
&quot;To genuinely give women a role in governance, Ghani needs to push forward when he encounters opposition,&quot; said Heather Barr, a women&#39;s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. &quot;This hasn&#39;t been happening.&quot; 
 
There are fears that Muradi might meet the same fate.&nbsp;But she can count on the unbridled support of at least one person: her husband. 
 
Late one evening, after Muradi returned home, Khalil Hashem walked into the room and said something you would seldom hear an Afghan husband, traditionally blind to domestic details, say to his wife: &quot;Dinner has been served.&quot; 
 
But he has also been at the receiving end of sexist wisecracks.&nbsp;&quot;People call me her secretary, her babysitter,&quot; he said. &quot;But I am very proud of her.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

Masooma Muradi, the mother-of-two handpicked by Afghan President, faces sexist insults and calls to step down by religious conservatives

Surrounded by male advisors and condescending "mansplainers", Masooma Muradi holds her own against a deep underswell of sexism in a society unaccustomed to women exercising authority. Breaking new ground as Afghanistan's only female governor, Muradi's ascent to the top post in remote Daikundi province is a remarkable feat in Afghanistan, where stubborn patriarchal traditions are at odds with progressive ideas about a woman's place in the world. Travails of being solo governor Barely a year after President Ashraf Ghani appointed Muradi, her job hangs by a thread, with growing calls for her ouster from religious conservatives and opponents. It highlights the travails of being the only woman in an overwhelmingly male preserve. "People claim to be open-minded, but many cannot bear having a woman in this position," Muradi, 37, told AFP, sinking into an overstuffed sofa in her office in the capital Nili, decorated with faux sunflowers and a large portrait of a pouting child. "I won't allow men to hush me up; society is not used to that from a woman," she added. Barely five feet tall, Muradi's diminutive frame and soft demeanour belies her steely instinct for survival. The mother-of-two was handpicked by Ghani in Kabul to lead Daikundi, a mosaic of rolling hills and boulder-strewn ridges in central Afghanistan, hemmed in by insurgency-wracked provinces. But protests erupted even before she arrived in Daikundi, with political opponents, almost all men, pillorying her lack of governance experience. Muradi has since managed to hold on to the job, but the resentment was palpable when she recently stepped out in Nili with AFP, trailed by Kalashnikov-toting guards. "Useless," one man barked as she passed by. "Maybe she should be a governor just for women," another growled. Boys' club Women have made giant strides since the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001, but they are still so absent from public life that the social media hashtag #WhereAreTheWomen has gained traction in Afghanistan. "The attitudes throughout Afghanistan still are such that not everyone is ready to be governed by a woman," said Douglas Keh, Afghanistan country director at the United Nations Development Programme. "Women leaders need all the support they can get," he added. Daikundi's administration has long been a boys' club, which was apparent at a recent provincial council meeting, attended by more than a dozen men but just one woman. Swaddled in a blue scarf, she sat at the edge of the room doodling on the sofa upholstery using her finger as an imaginary pen. When she tried to talk, the man chairing the meeting stuck his palm up to make her stop. Only when a woman UNDP official attending the meeting asked for her view, was she able to speak. "I recently replaced a man in the provincial council," she began. A council member interjected with a smirk. "Say something about men's problems too," he said, setting off a ripple of titters. "We really are worried about men's rights." Sexist wisecracks "Paying lip service to women's empowerment is one thing but real empowerment comes with deference to a woman leader's authority," the UNDP official later said, referring to Muradi's struggles. Muradi, who holds a degree in business administration but lacks political clout, stands in strong contrast to warlords and strongmen who govern other provinces amid a deep-rooted system of patronage politics. The antipathy towards her, observers say, highlights not just sexism but also clashing political interests. Daikundi is among the most challenging of Afghanistan's 34 provinces to govern. Cut off from the outside world by heavy snow for several months of the year, its meagre almond harvests, mainstay of the local economy, are dependent on the brutal vagaries of weather. Rampant joblessness is a ticking time bomb and most development plans are just on paper. "There are schools but most don't have buildings, there are hospitals but many don't have doctors," said Haji Rasouli, a grocery seller in Nili. "I support women's empowerment but will having a woman governor solve all these problems?" Ebbing international donor funding has exacerbated Muradi's struggles. "Anyone in that position, man or woman, would struggle with dwindling resources," said Habibullah Radmanesh, Daikundi's deputy governor. After coming to power, Ghani has appointed four female ministers For his part, Ghani has appointed four female ministers since he came to power in 2014, risking political capital. Last year, for the first time in Afghanistan's history he nominated a woman to the supreme court, but when she was rejected by Parliament he appointed a man instead. He also dismissed the only other woman governor, of central Ghor province, after protests from religious conservatives. "To genuinely give women a role in governance, Ghani needs to push forward when he encounters opposition," said Heather Barr, a women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. "This hasn't been happening." There are fears that Muradi might meet the same fate. But she can count on the unbridled support of at least one person: her husband. Late one evening, after Muradi returned home, Khalil Hashem walked into the room and said something you would seldom hear an Afghan husband, traditionally blind to domestic details, say to his wife: "Dinner has been served." But he has also been at the receiving end of sexist wisecracks. "People call me her secretary, her babysitter," he said. "But I am very proud of her." (AFP)

Afghan's only female governor breaks new ground in a man's world

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Eight killed in attack targetting Afghan governor

Afghan's only female governor breaks new ground in a man's world