Christians in Afghanistan have been paralyzed with fear at the news that the Taliban has taken control of the country. Nadine Maenza, chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom said the Taliban takeover ‘is the worst possible development for religious minorities. While most from these communities left Afghanistan in recent years, those that remain, and women in particular, are now in imminent danger.’

News received by Aid to the Church in Need echoed reports that leaders of underground house churches in Afghanistan had received letters from the Taliban warning them that they 'know where they are and what they are doing'.

According to Pew, around 90 per cent of the 37 million population is Sunni and 9.7 per cent Shia, with the remaining 0.3 per cent belonging to other religions.  

Most Christians in Afghanistan are underground, so getting a precise estimate of their number is nigh-on impossible.

One Christian reportedly received a letter saying his house now belongs to the Taliban.

Open Doors, a charity that challenges Christian persecution, ranks Afghanistan as the second-worst country for believers. It says that under former president Ashraf Ghani, Christians faced ‘clan pressure’: in other words, persecution was most likely to come from friends and family. Converts to Christianity risked being killed, or at least disowned, by their family, clan or tribe. In some cases, conversion was treated as a psychiatric condition. There are cases of former Muslims being sectioned.

The constitution of Afghanistan establishes Islam as the state religion and, according to a US Department of State report, religious minorities have to exercise their faith ‘within the limits of the law’. Conversion from Islam is apostasy and can be punished by death, imprisonment or confiscation of property. Proselytizing is also punishable by death.

In Taliban-controlled parts of the country, the treatment of Christians has been harsher. In 2010, the extremist group murdered ten humanitarian aid workers during a medical mission to Badakhshan in the north. They accused them of being foreign spies and of spreading Christianity.

A man named Brother Firas — not his real name — a convert from Islam to Christianity, told International Christian Concern how the takeover move has been received by believers and how the Taliban will operate. According to the charity, he said:

“They will kill the known Christians and want to spread fear. There are already posters appearing that if you have single girls, 15 years old, you have to marry them to Taliban soldiers. Christians fear their daughters will be taken away from them and forced to marry Taliban. They will be sent to madrasas to brainwash them. The parents may or may not be killed... One man received a letter that his house now belongs to the Taliban. He is a simple man who makes crafts and his entire savings are in his house. The Taliban will take the property and assets of the Christians and all their women will be taken.

Release International, which supports persecuted Christians, warned that anyone identified as Christian was facing death. As for living conditions under the Taliban, one Christian Afghan told the charity: “Our brothers and sisters in Christ are telling us how afraid they are. In the areas that the Taliban now control, girls are not allowed to go to school, and women are not allowed to leave their homes without a male companion.”

Sources/More: The Spectator, The Church Times

Pray for wisdom and super-natural strength in times of adversity for all Christians in Afghanistan. Ask the Lord to guide the citizens in the country – especially our brothers and sisters in Christ – in how to deal with interrogations and brutalities in the days to come. (2 Samuel 22:3-4)

Pray for comfort for those who mourn.  Pray for God’s presence, grace and love to shine through even the most challenging of situations.

Pray for the underground church in Afghanistan that it will thrive despite these unprecedented challenges. Pray for those that are supporting and resourcing the believers. 

Join with the IPC’s 30 Days of Prayer for Afghanistan at www.ipcprayer.org/pray4afghanistan