Latifa Nabizada

Latifa Nabizada (born 1971) is an Afghan helicopter pilot. She was the first woman in Afghanistan to complete helicopter pilot training and flew numerous missions, including later missions for the mujahideen. During the Taliban’s rule, she fled to Pakistan but returned to Afghanistan after a year. Following her marriage and the birth of her daughter, she served with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Despite threats from the Taliban, she also worked for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense, where she headed the department for human rights and gender policy.