Stabbed Afghan woman journalist fears for future

By Jonathon Burch

HERAT, Afghanistan, May 28 (Reuters) - Afghan television journalist Niloufar Habibi never wore the all-enveloping burqa until she was stabbed on her doorstep. Now it is her disguise.

More than six years after the overthrow of the Taliban, Afghanistan remains a deeply conservative country where many still oppose women working in public, visible roles.

"If I go outside people will see where I'm going and see what I'm doing," said Habibi, 20.

"I wear it (the burqa) to feel safe. I feel they are still after me."

Just over 10 days ago Habibi opened her front door to a woman dressed in a burqa asking for a glass of water.

As she turned to go to the kitchen the woman tore off the burqa, wrapped it around Habibi's head, and stabbed her in the abdomen.

"The next time I opened my eyes, I was in hospital," Habibi told Reuters in the western city of Herat.

Two women journalists were killed in Afghanistan last year and rights groups are concerned about the increase in violence.