Afghanistan's Top Woman Cop Killed

Malalai Kakar may have seemed like a groundbreaker in Afghanistan, but in reality she was just assuming the job that she'd held -- as a family tradition -- before the Taliban came into power and shut women inside the home. Kakar, who headed the crimes against women division in Kandahar's police department, was shot to death today as she was going to work. More:

"Kakar, who was in her late 30s, was shot in the head, a doctor said.

'She died on the spot and her son, who was badly injured, is in a coma in the hospital,' he said without giving his name.

A spokesman for the Taliban said that the assassins were from his group.

'We killed Malalai Kakar,' Yousuf Ahmadi, spokesman told the AFP news agency, said. 'She was our target, and we successfully eliminated our target.'

Kakar, a police captain and mother of six, led a 10-strong team of women police officers and had reportedly received numerous death threats in recent months."

Some must-read background stories on Kakar:

• A 2004 BBC story about how she inspired other women to join the force -- and how choosing to wear a burqa helped her on the job

• A 2003 ABC online piece from when Kakar was the only female cop in Kandahar

In addition to being a national hero, Kakar was a good shot: She was catapulted to international prominence after killing three would-be assassins in a shootout.