A boy is processed through a checkpoint during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai
International Airport in Kabul. Photo: CNS Afghanistan’s terrified Christians are bracing for a new round of persecution in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of the country, Christian leaders and aid organisations warn.
“We are telling people to stay in their houses because going out now is too dangerous,” one Afghani Christian leader told the aid organisation International Christian Concern (ICC.)
The man, whose name was withheld for security reasons, said Christians in the country fear that Taliban attacks on Christian communities would start soon.
They fear that it is only a matter of time before the attacks happen. “It will be done mafia style,” the Christian leader said. “The Taliban will never take responsibility for the killings.”
He added: “Some known Christians are already receiving threatening phone calls. In these phone calls, unknown people say, ‘We are coming for you.’”
Afghanistan is over 99% Muslim, with the majority being Sunni. There are small groups of Christians, including about 200 Catholics, as well as Buddhists, Hindus, and Bahá’ís. There is one Jewish man remaining in the country.
Afghanistan’s Christian community, which is estimated to be between 10,000 and 12,000 people, is comprised mostly of converts from Islam and is the country’s largest religious minority group. Due to persecution, the Christian community remains largely closeted and hidden from the public eye.
Under sharia, including in Afghanistan prior to the Taliban takeover, apostasy from Islam is punishable by death. Converts to Christianity are the frequent target of Islamic extremist groups.
Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, fell to the Taliban August 15. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country the same day.
The Taliban previously controlled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001. During that time, a strict interpretation of sharia was imposed. The playing of musical instruments, among other things, was banned, and girls were not permitted to go to school.
Life under Taliban rule will be very difficult for Christians, said the community leader. He said that when the Taliban takes control of a village, they would require all households to go to the mosque to pray in an attempt to out any Christian convert.
The ICC report said that in some northern parts of Afghanistan, the Taliban have already enforced their strict interpretation of sharia, and that “Men are required to grow beards, women cannot leave home without a male escort, and life is becoming more dangerous”.
“Many Christians fear the Taliban will take their children, both girls and boys, like in Nigeria and Syria,” the Christian leader said. “The girls will be forced to marry Taliban fighters and the boys will be forced to become soldiers.”
“It’s a heart-breaking day for the citizens of Afghanistan and an even dangerous time to be a Christian,” read a statement from the field director of Open Doors in Asia, a non-denominational mission supporting persecuted Christians.
“It’s an uncertain situation for the whole country, not just for secret believers,” the statement added.