Human rights groups have criticised the Afghan government's plan to send a young girl back to her family after her brother allegedly sent her on a suicide mission.
Police say the girl, named Spozhmai and thought to be about 10, is the sister of a prominent Taliban commander.
Spozhmai has appealed to the Afghan president to find her a new home. Photo: AFP
She was detained earlier this week wearing a suicide vest after she had been sent to carry out an attack on a border police post, the ABC reports.
Spozhmai is now in protective custody and has appealed to Afghan president Hamid Karzai to find her a new home.
But a presidential spokeswoman says she will be returned to relatives if tribal elders can guarantee her safety.
Her father has spoken out in the wake of the botched attack, saying that the Taliban would kill him and his daughter if they returned to their village in southern Afghanistan.
Abdul Ghafar told reporters he could not keep his daughter alive "even for a night" should they return to Khan Nishin, the village in Helmand province where the alleged plot took place.
Mr Ghafar says he wants to take his daughter to live with another daughter in eastern Ghazni province as soon as police finish their investigation.
