'They tried to kill my mother in front of me, twice'

Shuhra Koofi was desperate. Her mother, a two-term member of the Afghan parliament, had been shot as they travelled back to Kabul together by car. Shuhra begged her mother, Fawzia Koofi, not to close her eyes. "What will I do without you?" she asked.

"I was horrified because I thought I had lost my mum," Shuhra told the BBC, of the assassination attempt last month. "But then I tried to control myself because she needed my help."

Fawzia Koofi is an outspoken critic of Afghan fundamentalists and has challenged the Taliban across the negotiating table. She has paid a heavy price for her politics - two assassination attempts, both witnessed by her daughter. In 2010, her convoy was ambushed by the Taliban, and in August this year she was shot by unknown assailants on the road.