Taliban leaders claim the group has changed since it last controlled most of Afghanistan in the 1990s and have suggested it could be a more tolerant governing force. But interviews with more than two dozen Taliban fighters, commanders and leaders since the fall of Kabul reveal a movement possibly open to some change but one that is dedicated to the harsh enforcement of rules — such as gender segregation — that date to the movement’s founding.

While most of the group’s political leadership has spent years meeting with foreign officials over a decade of peace talks with the United States, the Taliban rank-and-file has been fighting a war they believed was sanctioned by God, offering them a clear path to paradise in the afterlife. The result is that violence and intimidation remain central to how the Taliban maintains order, at least for now.

One of the founders of the Taliban and the chief enforcer of its harsh interpretation of Islamic law when they last ruled Afghanistan said the hard-line movement will once again carry out executions and amputations of hands, though perhaps not in public.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi dismissed outrage over the Taliban’s executions in the past, which sometimes took place in front of crowds at a stadium, and he warned the world against interfering with Afghanistan’s new rulers.

“Everyone criticised us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments,” Turabi told The Associated Press, speaking in Kabul. “No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran.”

Amnesty International released a briefing titled "Afghanistan's fall into the hands of the Taliban," in which they reported on how the Taliban have already committed several human rights abuses, including the targeted killing of civilians and soldiers, preventing humanitarian supplies from entering the Panjshir Valley, and re-establishing restrictions on women.

"In just over five weeks since assuming control of Afghanistan, the Taliban have clearly demonstrated that they are not serious about protecting or respecting human rights," Amnesty International's Deputy Director for South Asia Dinushika Dissanayake said. "We have already seen a wave of violations, from reprisal attacks and restrictions on women, to crackdowns on protests, the media and civil society."

In the meantime, Afghanistan is collapsing with the withdrawal of funds and economic stability provided by western powers.  The international community pledged more than $1.2 billion in response to a UN appeal for $600 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. But delivering aid to needy Afghans remains an uphill task for many organisations as they scramble to work under the Taliban.

“It looks like the priority for the Taliban is their own coherence, and they are not so bothered yet about what is happening economically, financially, from a humanitarian point of view,” Anders Fange, a veteran aid worker and board member of the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan said as aid agencies attempt to continue helping vulnerable Afghans despite the Taliban’s interference.

Time is not on the Taliban’s side. Afghanistan is already suffering from an economic collapse and an unfolding humanitarian crisis in which even the most basic services are being interrupted.

“These days I’m forced to help women deliver their babies by the flashlight on our smart phones because our hospital ran out of money to buy fuel for the generator,” a doctor says regarding the early impact of diminishing aid on her hospital in the rural province of Maidan Wardak. “Carrying out a C-section by flashlight is a nightmare we now have to face regularly.”

Sources / More: Washington Post, AP News, Christianity Daily, Gandhara

Pray:

Father, today we pray for Afghanistan.

In recent days we have witnessed the withdrawal of Western forces and the paramilitary overthrow of the country’s government by the Taliban.

We are deeply concerned about this unfolding situation and the consequences for the women, men and children living there.

Lord, You hear the cries and see the tears of those formed in Your own image.

We know that politics, diplomacy and international laws have an important part to play in creating and maintaining peace and stability. We pray for wisdom for international leaders in this moment.

However, we also see starkly the limits of such endeavours. Human efforts alone cannot compel love of neighbour, let alone enemy; rather this is the transformational territory of Your word and Spirit.

So would You move Your hand to change the hearts and minds of the oppressors even now? Withhold evil and cultivate good, banish darkness and bring forth light.

We declare Your nearness over those who have been abused and displaced, violated and oppressed. Would You open their ears and eyes to Your presence?

We pray for Your church there. Would You comfort and strengthen, protect and bless our sisters and brothers? As persecution draws close, would You draw closer still?

Teach us how to respond as we place our hope in You and Your good and just plans for Your creation.

Lord, have mercy and hear our prayer.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

Source: Evangelical Alliance.

Pray: (Prayers collated by John Robb)

1. That the international community and USA will continue to give attention to the plight of those still trapped inside the country. The best solution for getting large numbers out now would be if a humanitarian corridor can be opened by the United Nations to get those out who want to leave. However, the USA and international community have very little leverage after the debacle of the ill-prepared pull-out last month. May they find a way and be determined to make it happen!
2. Some very extreme Taliban from the Haqqani network, who have long been a major source of terrorism are now in charge of the police and internal justice system. They are reinstating public executions and amputation of limbs for minor crimes and religious infractions. They recently executed four men publicly in one of the cities as adults and children watched in horror. Pray for them to moderate their tyrannical oppression and bloodlust in the fear of God and to maintain a better relationship with other nations.
3. Pray that the flights can continue to take larger numbers out and for the removal of obstacles and a particular official who has caused big problems for those seeking to get out this way.
4. Finally, among the tens of thousands who have been evacuated, there is a scattering of Jesus followers who could serve as His witnesses and disciple makers among them. Let’s pray for a great harvest both within Afghanistan during this continuing crisis and in this growing diaspora coming to so many countries where these refugees are being resettled.