Teenage Afghan girl uses family's AK-47 to fend off Taliban militants after they murdered her parents

A teenage girl in Afghanistan was a tragic witness to her parents' murder at the hands of the Taliban, but rather than allow the murderous thugs to also kill her and her brother, she used the family's AK-47 to kill three of the intruders and stall the rest until the local militia was able to force the Taliban fighters to retreat.

According to the New York Post, the incident took place in the village of Geriveh in Afghanistan. The 16-year-old girl, who was identified as Qamar Gul, was sleeping at home when Taliban fighters came looking for her father, who was the village's local leader and a supporter of the Afghani government. When they knocked on the door, Gul's mother refused to open it because she saw that the men outside were armed. The Taliban fighters then barged in and killed her parents.

At this point, Gul took matters into her own hands, grabbing the family's AK-47 and shooting and killing three Taliban fighters, saving her own life and the life of her 12-year-old brother in the process. The Taliban fighters were forced to retreat outside the house, where they were engaged by the local militia, who forced them to retreat.

CBS news reports that Gul has been hailed as a hero in her home country for her bravery, and was invited to the presidential palace where President Ahsraf Ghani lauded her for her bravery.

According to Gul, "It was around 1 a.m. that the Taliban knocked on our door. My mother answered and refused to open the door. They broke our door and dragged my parents into the hallway and killed them both."

Gul told CBS News that her father taught her how to shoot the gun.

"I am proud I killed my parents' murderers. I killed them because they killed my parents, and also because I knew they would come for me and my little brother. After I killed the two Taliban, I went to talk to my parents, but they were not breathing. I feel sad I could not talk to them one last time," Gul said in an interview with AFP.