Aghanistan's new women army officers

Afghan women break barriers in a male bastion: the army

Despite social taboos and other hurdles, a group of 29 become the first to graduate from an officer-candidate program mentored by U.S. troops. Officials hope to eventually go from a few hundred to 30,000 female soldiers

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As so often happens in Afghanistan, what appears to be an advance for women is simply a matter of regaining rights once freely enjoyed.

Twenty years ago, it was not uncommon for women to hold top ranks in the Afghan military. But during the ferocious civil war of the early 1990s, followed by the five-year reign of the Taliban movement, women could barely leave home, let alone hold positions of authority outside it.

Though some recruits wrestle with relatives' disapproval — the four women who dropped out of this class all cited family problems, trainers said — some receive warm support, even from fathers and husbands.

Jamila Amiri, a 29-year-old mother of five from Parwan province, north of the capital, was hugged and congratulated by her trainers as her husband looked on, beaming.

"This is one of my most happy days ever," she said, wiping her eyes and clutching a spray of flowers.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-army-women-20100925,0,7516054.story