Ruadhán Jones
The Islamist terror group’s return to power in Afghanistan will embolden extremists worldwide, the director of Aid to the Church in Need Ireland has said, putting vulnerable Christians at even more risk.
The failure of the US and its allies in Afghanistan “validates” the ambitions of Islamists worldwide, Dr Michael Kinsella said.
“Other Islamists will think, if these backwoods boys can fight the most militarily powerful state on the planet, we can,” Dr Kinsella told The Irish Catholic.
He expressed concern that the Taliban’s victory will “push the centre of Islamic thought and jurisprudence towards the extreme”.
“If you want Sharia Law [Islam’s legal system], its emboldening that the Taliban won, and return to power stronger than they were.
“They now have some of the most sophisticated machinery in the world, and won’t be removed from power – they have Russia and China’s backing.”
As the US and its allies withdraw from the central Asian state, the Taliban have rapidly returned to power in the past weeks.
“This will have a demonstrable and rapid effect on the expression of religious freedom in Afghanistan,” Dr Kinsella continued.
He warned that under Sharia Law, “open expressions of religions outside of Sunni Islam can, according to the caprice of the Sharia courts, involve imprisonment, torture or death”.
“It’s as capacious as it needs to be to enforce strict social and religious norms.”
However, he added, this internal policy is unlikely to create an “ideological cleavage” with the Taliban’s allies in China, Pakistan or Russia: “Let’s face it, there’s a lot of trade needs building up, and they’re not going to make Sharia Law contingent on this.”
But he finished by warning that “you’re going to see Russian and Chinese military aircraft entering into Kabul airport soon – there’s no way the Taliban are going to allow US rule beyond the grave.
“Whatever hope they had of influencing Afghanistan’s foreign policy, it’s over,” Dr Kinsella said.