One of Afghanistan's leading women's rights activists, Sitara Achakzai, was booked to fly out of Kabul last Friday, to visit her ageing mother in Canada. But she didn't make it.
The day before I left Afghanistan two weeks ago, Sitara was gunned down in the street, in broad daylight.
That's the Taliban for you.
A Taliban spokesperson, Qari Yousef Ahmedi, proudly claimed responsibility for the attack, and pointed to pictures of Sitara's dead body on television as a warning to all women.
Right now, as the Taliban creep closer and closer to Kabul, there are two key planks to their strategy for seizing control of Afghanistan. The first is overt and obvious kill all infidels. The second is more covert, but just as important stop the rise of women.
The Taliban are terrified of strong women. Their long list of recent assassinations of high-profile women politicians, a police chief, journalists, and a television broadcaster is proof of that. Segregation and oppression of women is clearly integral to Taliban success. That's why draconian laws such as no education, no paid work, no contact with any men other than relatives, and no leaving the home without permission, were strictly imposed upon women during the Taliban regime, right up to late 2001.
For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times