KABUL (Reuters) - There was an angry reaction in Afghanistan to news that the first female fixed-wing pilot in the country’s air force was requesting asylum in the United States after completing an 18-month training course.

The Afghan defense ministry confirmed on Sunday that Captain Niloofar Rahmani, 25, had sought asylum after the Wall Street Journal quoted her as saying that she feared her life would be in danger if she returned home.

A recipient of the U.S. State Department’s “Women of Courage” award in 2015, Capt. Rahmani had been a symbol of efforts to improve the situation of women in her country, more than a decade after the fall of the Taliban regime.

Mohammad Radmanish, a defense ministry spokesman, said the government hoped that her request would be denied by U.S. authorities who have spent billions trying to build up Afghan security forces.

“When an officer complains of insecurity and is afraid of security threats, then what should ordinary people do?” he said. “She has made an excuse for herself, but we have hundreds of educated women and female civil right activists who work and it is safe for them.”

Capt. Rahmani, who graduated from flight school in 2012 and qualified to fly C-208 military cargo aircraft, had been in the United States on a training course and had been due to return home on Saturday.

In a conservative country notorious for the restrictions placed on women, Rahmani’s story stood out as a rare example of a woman breaking through in areas normally reserved for men.

Her success came at a price, however. The citation for the “Women of Courage” award said she and her family had received direct threats not just from the Taliban but also from some relatives, forcing her family to move house several times.

However, there was little sympathy on Afghanistan’s active social media networks, which were replete with comments criticizing Rahmani, accusing her of wasting government money spent on expensive training and avoiding her responsibilities.

“Niloofar Rahmani took a million dollars from the pockets of the people of Afghanistan to pay human traffickers to get to America to seek asylum,” one Facebook user wrote in comments typical of others.

Dozens of Afghan troops receiving training in the United States have gone missing over the past two years, and at least one has been detained while trying to cross the border to Canada.</s>KABUL: There was an angry reaction in Afghanistan to news that the first female fixed-wing pilot in the country's air force was requesting asylum in the United States after completing an 18-month training course.

The Afghan defence ministry confirmed on Sunday that Captain Niloofar Rahmani, 25, had sought asylum after the Wall Street Journal quoted her as saying that she feared her life would be in danger if she returned home.

A recipient of the U.S. State Department's "Women of Courage" award in 2015, Capt. Rahmani had been a symbol of efforts to improve the situation of women in her country, more than a decade after the fall of the Taliban regime.

Mohammad Radmanish, a defence ministry spokesman, said the government hoped that her request would be denied by U.S. authorities who have spent billions trying to build up Afghan security forces.

"When an officer complains of insecurity and is afraid of security threats, then what should ordinary people do?" he said. "She has made an excuse for herself, but we have hundreds of educated women and female civil right activists who work and it is safe for them."

Capt. Rahmani, who graduated from flight school in 2012 and qualified to fly C-208 military cargo aircraft, had been in the United States on a training course and had been due to return home on Saturday.

In a conservative country notorious for the restrictions placed on women, Rahmani's story stood out as a rare example of a woman breaking through in areas normally reserved for men.

Her success came at a price, however. The citation for the "Women of Courage" award said she and her family had received direct threats not just from the Taliban but also from some relatives, forcing her family to move house several times.

However, there was little sympathy on Afghanistan's active social media networks, which were replete with comments criticizing Rahmani, accusing her of wasting government money spent on expensive training and avoiding her responsibilities.

"Niloofar Rahmani took a million dollars from the pockets of the people of Afghanistan to pay human traffickers to get to America to seek asylum," one Facebook user wrote in comments typical of others.

Dozens of Afghan troops receiving training in the United States have gone missing over the past two years, and at least one has been detained while trying to cross the border to Canada.

Anger in Afghanistan at female pilot's U.S. asylum bid was posted in World of TheNews International - https://www.thenews.com.pk on December 26, 2016 and was last updated on December 26, 2016. This news story is related to Latest/174556-Anger-Afghanistan-female-pilot-US-asylum-bid/ - breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. Permanent link to the news story "Anger in Afghanistan at female pilot's U.S. asylum bid" is https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/174556-Anger-Afghanistan-female-pilot-US-asylum-bid.</s>Perhaps no Afghan’s story better embodied America’s aspirations for Afghanistan than that of Capt. Niloofar Rahmani, the first woman fixed-wing pilot in the fledgling Afghan Air Force. She was celebrated in Washington in 2015 when the State Department honoured her with its annual Women of Courage award.

On Thursday, on the eve of her scheduled return to Afghanistan from a 15-month training course at Air Force bases in Texas, Florida and Arkansas, Capt. Rahmani broke a sobering piece of news to her U.S. trainers. She still wants to be a military pilot, but not under her country’s flag. This summer, she filed a petition seeking asylum in the United States, where she hopes to eventually join the Air Force.

“Things are not changing” for the better in Afghanistan, Capt. Rahmani said in an interview on Friday. “Things are getting worse and worse.”

After photos of Capt. Rahmani in uniform were published in 2013, she and her relatives in Kabul began receiving death threats. At work in Afghanistan, she said, she felt unsafe because most of her male colleagues held her in contempt. Still, she put on a brave face during the early months of her training in the United States, which began in September 2015. But that resolve has eroded in recent months. The Afghan air force stopped paying her salary shortly after the U.S. training programme began, she said.

This new phase of her life in the United States starts with trepidation. “It makes me really nervous,” she said of having her asylum petition pending when President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bar Muslims from entering the United States. Still, Capt. Rahmani said she sees the United States as a place where women can aspire to accomplish great things. — New York Times News Service</s>There was an angry reaction in Afghanistan to news that the first female fixed-wing pilot in the country's air force was requesting asylum in the United States after completing an 18-month training course. The Afghan defense ministry confirmed on Sunday that Captain Niloofar Rahmani, 25, had sought asylum after the Wall Street Journal quoted her as saying that she feared her life would be in danger if she returned home.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Reuters.</s>Afghanistan's first female pilot to serve in the air force since the fall of the Taliban has applied for asylum in the United States.

Capt. Niloofar Rahmani told the Wall Street Journal: 'I would love to fly for my country — that is what I always wanted to do. But I'm scared for my life.'

Rahmani, 25, has defied death threats from the Taliban and even members of her own extended family to become the first female fixed-wing Air Force aviator in Afghanistan's history and the first female pilot in the Afghan military since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

She was honored with the US State Department's International Women of Courage Award in 2015.

Her bio on the department's page listing the 2015 award winners says: 'Captain Rahmani was only 18 years old when she heard an announcement in the media about the recruitment of young women into the Afghan Air Force, including the opportunity for pilot training.

'Soon after, she enlisted in officer training and graduated as a Second Lieutenant.

'In July 2012 – just two years after hearing the recruitment announcement – Captain Rahmani graduated from flight school and completed her first solo flight in September in a Cessna 182, an American four-seat, single-engine light airplane.'

According to the State Department, 'She continued to expand her skills and challenge all odds when she graduated from advanced flight training and became qualified to fly a C-208 military cargo aircraft.

'Unfortunately, after her story was publicized, Captain Rahmani and her family began to receive threats from the Taliban and from members of her extended family, who disapproved of her career and ambition.

'As a result, her family has had to take tremendous caution and relocate several times in Afghanistan.'

Threats have led her immediate family to relocate three times since Rahmani went to the United States, according to the newspaper.

Her attorney Kimberly Motley told the Journal: 'There are great concerns for her safety if she returns. The threats she has received have been well documented.

'Unfortunately, some of her superiors within the Afghan military have failed in their duty to protect her.'

She traveled to the United States last summer for C-130 transport plane training with the US Air Force in Arkansas which finished on Thursday - and was supposed to return Saturday, yet did not, the Journal reported.

An Afghan air force spokesman told the Journal pilots have to come back after finishing training elsewhere.

Rahmani told the newspaper that if she gets asylum, she'll fly with the US Air Force or commercially.

She previously told WTKR: 'You can't just see yourself as a woman, but as a human and believe in yourself.

'It was not easy finishing flight school, it was very hard, but someone had to accept the risk so that other women can do what they dream.'</s>KABUL: Niloofar Rahmani, the first Afghan female pilot, has sought asylum in the US apparently after receiving death threats from relatives and militants, according to media reports.

Local media reported on Saturday that Captain Rehmani has expressed her intention to stay n the US following a 15-month long training period in Texas.

"Things are not changing for the better in Afghanistan.”Things are getting worse and worse." She was quoted by an American newspaper as saying.

Rahmani is also said to have told her foreign trainers that she still wants to be a military pilot but not under her country's flag.

According to the reports the pilot has filed a petition seeking asylum in the US.

Rahmani is one of the celebrated personalities in war stricken Afghanistan for being the first female pilot and was presented the International Women of Courage award last year in the United States.

First female Afghan pilot seeks asylum in US after receiving death threats was posted in World of TheNews International - https://www.thenews.com.pk on December 25, 2016 and was last updated on December 25, 2016. This news story is related to Latest/174310-First-female-Afghan-pilot-seeks-asylum-in-US-after-receiving-death-threats/ - breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. Permanent link to the news story "First female Afghan pilot seeks asylum in US after receiving death threats" is https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/174310-First-female-Afghan-pilot-seeks-asylum-in-US-after-receiving-death-threats.</s>The first female pilot to serve in Afghanistan's air force has applied for asylum in the United States because she is "scared" for her life.

Captain Niloofar Rahmani, 25, made headlines when she completed her training in 2013, having defied her parents to join the programme in Texas.

She persisted despite receiving death threats during and after she completed her training.

But she said things were getting worse in her home country and she was left with no choice but to apply for asylum.

“I would love to fly for my country — that is what I always wanted to do. But I'm scared for my life," she told the Wall Street Journal.

If her asylum is granted, she said she will continue flying, either with the US Air Force or as a commercial pilot.

“Everything I went through, all my suffering, was because I really wanted to fly. That was my dream,” she added.

Ms Rahmani received the US State Department's International Women of Courage Award in 2015.

“Rahmani is as committed to encouraging other young women to follow in her footsteps now as she was as an 18-year-old dreaming of flight school,” US First Lady Michelle Obama said during the presentation ceremony.</s>The Afghan Air Force’s first fixed-wing female pilot has sought asylum in the United States, it has been reported.

Capt. Niloofar Rahmani informed regarding her intention to remain in the United States on Thursday after completing a 15-month training in Texas.

“Things are not changing” for the better in Afghanistan, Captain Rahmani told The New York Times in an interview on Friday. “Things are getting worse and worse.”

According to the Times, Capt. Rahmani broke a sobering piece of news to her American trainers, saying she still wants to be a military pilot, but not under her country’s flag. This summer, she filed a petition seeking asylum in the United States, where she hopes to eventually join the Air Force.

This comes as reports emerged late last year suggesting that Capt. Rahmani is receiving death threats.

She is one of the celebrated pilots in the history of Afghanistan for being the first female pilot to fly fixed-wing plane and was presented the International Women of Courage award for the year 2015 in Washington DC.

“Niloofar is as committed to encouraging other young women to follow in her footsteps now as she was as an 18-year-old dreaming of flight school. For her bravery in the face of threats of violence and commitment to an inclusive future for Afghanistan’s women and girls, we honor Captain Rahmani as a woman of courage,” The American 1st lady stated in the citation presented at the ceremony last year.

She graduated from Shindand airbase of Herat province in the year 2013 and at the time of joining the air force academy Nilofar said she wanted to fly with her brothers and serve for her country.

Follow Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan News Agency on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook. Stay updated via RSS</s>The Afghan government officials have said they hope the United States will deny asylum request by the first fixed-wing female pilot of the country.

Captain Rahmani denied to return to Afghanistan last week after completing months of further training in the United States, citing security concerns while requesting asylum in the country.

However, a ministry of defense spokesman Mohammad Radmanish has said the government hoped that her request would be denied by U.S. authorities.

Pointing towards the billions of dollars spent by US to build the Afghan forces, Radmanish told Reuters “When an officer complains of insecurity and is afraid of security threats, then what should ordinary people do?”

He said “She has made an excuse for herself, but we have hundreds of educated women and female civil right activists who work and it is safe for them.”

The Afghan nation was shocked when news regarding Captain Rahmani emerged last week of requesting asylum in US with some condemning the act while some speaking in her favor.

She is one of the celebrated pilots in the history of Afghanistan for being the first female pilot to fly fixed-wing plane and was presented the International Women of Courage award for the year 2015 in Washington DC.

Capt. Rahmani broke a sobering piece of news to her American trainers, saying she still wants to be a military pilot, but not under her country’s flag. This summer, she filed a petition seeking asylum in the United States, where she hopes to eventually join the Air Force.

“Things are not changing” for the better in Afghanistan, Captain Rahmani told The New York Times in an interview on Friday. “Things are getting worse and worse.”

Follow Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan News Agency on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook. Stay updated via RSS</s>The decision of Afghanistan’s first female airplane pilot to seek asylum in the U.S. drew anger from her home country’s military leadership, which said she could face disciplinary action if she didn’t return.

Niloofar Rahmani, a 25-year old captain with the Afghan Air Force, said Friday that she wouldn’t be going back to Afghanistan as planned upon completing an 18-month training course in the U.S., citing ongoing threats against her...
Afghanistan's first female Air Force pilot Niloofar Rahmani files for asylum in the United States.