Officials in southern Afghanistan say gunmen have shot dead the most senior female police officer serving in Helmand province.
Authorities say Lieutenant Islam Bibi was killed Thursday morning by unknown assailants while on her way to work.
Bibi was widely seen as an example of how opportunities for women have improved in Afghanistan since the repressive Taliban regime was ousted in 2001.
However, the police officer, who was 37 years old and the mother of three, received regular death threats from people who did not approve of her career, including her brother who tried to kill her three times.
Elsewhere Thursday in Helmand, officials say a roadside bomb blast has killed four girls, aged between 10 and 12.
Authorities say the explosion happened in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, where the girls were fetching water.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Taliban rebels regularly use roadside bombs to target government officials and NATO and Afghan soldiers, but civilians and children are also often killed and wounded in the blasts.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.