A prominent Vancouver doctor killed in a restaurant shootout in Kabul is being remembered as a loving mother who dedicated herself to bettering the lives of Afghan refugees.
Optometrist Roshan Thomas, who was set to become a grandmother later this year, is one of two Canadians killed after gunmen stormed into a luxury hotel restaurant Friday night and opened fire. The hotel, normally considered a well-protected site for civilians and ex-pats alike, was packed with Afghans celebrating the eve of the Persian New Year, Nowruz.
The other Canadian killed is Zeenab Kassam, a 57-year-old Calgary nurse who was in the country teaching English.
In all, nine people, including an Afghan journalist with the French news agency Agence France-Presse, his wife, and their two children, were killed in what Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird calls a “brazen and cowardly” attack. The Taliban have claimed responsibility.
Roshan was an optometrist with three grown children who began volunteering in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan in 1999. She and her ophthalmologist husband established an eye clinic in Karachi that served Afghan refugees and later marginalized Pakistani populations.
In 2003, they opened a school in Kabul and worked to promote early childhood development.
Her son, Karim Thomas, says her legacy will live on through her school, and the children who were educated there.
“My mom is gone, but the ethics and values she taught not just me but my sisters and all of the students who came through the school are going to live on,” he told CTV News.
Roshan was a month away from finishing her PhD in education at the University of British Columbia, he added.
Nadeha Habibi, a student Roshan helped come to B.C. through United World Colleges, says she hopes to follow in her footsteps. Habibi is now doing her early education degree at Capilano University.
“It was her dream to have early childhood education in Afghanistan,” she said.
Breaking into tears, she said Roshan inspired her not only to follow her career aspirations but also to follow her hopes and dreams.
“She was the woman who gave me everything. She was the only one who pushed me.”
A statement by Foreign Affairs said Canadian diplomats in Kabul are working with Afghan to gather additional information.
“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of two Canadian citizens who were killed in Afghanistan. Acts of terror must not go unpunished, and those who perpetrated this violence and those who support the Taliban, must be held accountable,” the statement read.
Karim-Aly Kassam, Zeenab’s brother, says he is working with Canadian consulate officials to have the bodies of the Canadian victims brought back home.
“We need to bring them home for their sake and our sake. They need to be buried here on Canadian soil because that’s where they’re from,” he said in a statement provided to CTV News.
Despite his sister’s murder, Kassam said his family has “nothing against the Afghan people.”
“There’s just a small minority of people who have weapons that are violent that are causing violence and they cannot be allowed to succeed by intimidating good work.”
All four attackers were killed by police after a standoff that stretched three hours.
