Displaying items by tag: Taliban

There have been very few opportunities in the last three years for women to escape from the bleakness of life under Taliban rule, with teenage girls having been barred from formal education. Now a new law has been passed which restricts their freedoms even further. The law enhances the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Ministry’s control over Afghan citizens, worsening the already severe limitations on women’s rights. Many women are scared to speak or even leave their homes; activists like Nausheen, who previously protested and was once arrested and beaten, now refrain from public dissent due to the fear of violent retaliation. Some women are rebelling quietly, running secret schools and sharing their resistance through masked online videos. The international community, including the EU, has condemned the new restrictions as ‘systematic and systemic abuses, which may amount to gender persecution’. However, a government spokesman said the values laid out in the law are in line with Islamic traditions.

Twenty Afghan women, whose medical studies were abruptly halted when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, will finally resume their education in Scotland after years of uncertainty. The women, banned from universities by the Taliban, have been granted visas under a unique scheme involving the charity Linda Norgrove Foundation, the UK Home Office, and the Scottish government. They will study at prestigious universities across Scotland. Some were just one exam away from qualifying as doctors when the Taliban imposed the ban, while others had years of hospital experience. The women, who spent their time in hiding and studying English, are excited about their new opportunities in Scotland, where they will be treated as residents, allowing them to study without paying tuition fees and receive student loans. This breakthrough came after prolonged advocacy efforts to adjust visa rules and open a resettlement pathway for vulnerable Afghan women.

On 29 April a gunman attacked a mosque in western Afghanistan, killing six people. The mosque, reportedly belonging to Afghanistan's minority Shia community, was targeted during prayer. Among the victims was a prayer leader. IS has claimed responsibility for the attack, consistent with their history of targeting Shia communities. Despite the Taliban government's pledge to protect religious and ethnic minorities since assuming power in August 2021, little has been done. The deadliest recent attack linked to IS occurred in 2022 in Kabul, resulting in 53 deaths, primarily girls and young women. A UN report in January noted a decrease in IS attacks due to Taliban counter-terrorism efforts, but said that the group still had ‘the ability to project a threat into the region and beyond’ - as shown by the deadly attack in a Moscow nightclub in March, for which IS has claimed responsibility.

The Taliban exists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but the two forces are not compatible. Recent clashes between them caused the closure of a significant connecting thoroughfare between the two countries. Trucks carrying fruits, vegetables, and other commodities were stranded at the Michni checkpoint border crossing. The two groups were firing at one another, and authorities from both governments are trying to determine the cause and how to de-escalate the conflict. The border between the two countries is 1,675 miles long, and for decades it has seen many conflicts between the security forces. Pray for the negotiating parties of both countries to reach an agreement about this critical border crossing that will keep the border open and flowing for aid supplies (1 Corinthians 1:10).

30 August was the two-year anniversary of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Despite promises of a more moderate rule, Taliban leaders have imposed harsh measures. ‘It’s not a very good time in Afghanistan because of the hopelessness, the fear. People are tired of Islam,’ says Mina, an Afghan Christian working with Global Catalytic Ministries. ‘At first, I was feeling sorry for myself. I cried for three weeks. Then God’s grace opened my eyes.’ In June, Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada described Afghanistan’s conditions as comfortable for women according to the Islamic Shariah: ‘The status of women as a free and dignified human being has been restored, and all institutions have been obliged to help women in securing marriage, inheritance and other rights.’ However the Taliban removed girls from school, barred women from public spaces, and cracked down on media freedoms. Earlier this year, officials banned women like Mina from the workplace.

In August 2021 Afghans dreading the return of the draconian Taliban regime risked their lives clinging to the outside of departing planes, desperate to escape. Afghanistan is now the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian. Closing the ministry of women’s affairs demonstrated a return to the denigration of women that had previously characterised the Taliban rule. Except for healthcare workers, women must stay at home ‘to protect their safety’. Girls’ secondary schools stay closed ‘until a comprehensive plan is prepared according to Sharia and Afghan culture’. The Taliban have re-established the ‘Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue’ to enforce their strict interpretation of Sharia. Their drive for only the ‘purest’ form of Islam has left no room for Christians in Afghanistan. Please pray for the safety and protection of secret believers from being discovered, and for the families who have to leave everything behind as they flee to safety. See also

Pictures show landslides and ruined mud-built homes where rescuers scramble to find people buried under the ground and treat the injured in the deadliest earthquake in twenty years. On 22 June, people started to bury over 1,000 dead, and help over 1,500 injured. The Taliban leadership appealed to the international community to clear any barriers created by sanctions and come to their aid. Communication is difficult because mobile phone towers are damaged, and the death toll could rise still further where dwellings in rural areas are unstable or poorly built. Even before the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan's emergency services were stretched to deal with natural disasters. A doctor from Paktika province said medical workers were among the victims: ‘We didn't have enough people and facilities before the earthquake, and now it has ruined the little we had. I don't know how many of our colleagues are still alive.’  Some have expressed surprise because the Taliban have said their rescue operation is complete, less than 48 hours after the quake.

At least eight Westerners have been arrested in Afghanistan during different incidents in the last two months, marking a sharp escalation of Taliban actions against Westerners living in the country. No formal charges have been lodged against the six British citizens, one of whom is an American legal resident, and one US citizen. Afghanistan’s former vice-president tweeted that nine Westerners had been ‘kidnapped’ by the Taliban, naming journalists Andrew North, formerly of the BBC who was working for the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), and Peter Jouvenal, who has worked with the BBC and CNN. The reason for each of the specific detentions is unclear, and they are not thought to be related. Peter's family believe he is detained in error. He was working openly, having frequent meetings with Taliban officials to discuss investments in Afghanistan's mining industry. Peter suffers from high blood pressure and needs medication.

Christians in Afghanistan are on the precipice of disaster. Women and children fear the utter brutality of Taliban rule. They are hiding in their homes for fear of what the Taliban will do to them. The Taliban have taken over Afghanistan in a catastrophe of epic proportions. The west is abandoning Afghan Christians, helpless women and children, and U.S. citizens. The Taliban are going door to door looking for Christians to kill and unmarried women to take captive. There are fears of the same genocidal persecution Christians suffered in Iraq and Syria. The American Centre for Law and Justice is mobilising to defend Christians' lives in Afghanistan. It is submitting reports for UN consideration and filing critical demands of the Biden administration (which will likely lead to a lawsuit). It wants international intervention to prevent needless bloodshed and human rights atrocities before it is too late.

A large explosion, claimed by IS, tore through a Shi’ite mosque in Kandahar during Friday prayers, killing at least 47 people. That bombing was the third in twelve days, and the deadliest since US forces left in August. It is also the first major IS attack in southern Afghanistan, raising concerns that the group is expanding its reach. Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) says Islamic militant groups do not always support each other; they are all seeking power. US and allied forces withdrew and created a power vacuum that the Taliban want to fill. However, IS wants to take control and plays on the fears of people by creating instability through terrorist attacks. Afghanistan will be unstable as long as there is a power struggle. VOM believes religious freedom underpins all other freedoms. Pray for religious freedom and for the churches to grow and be salt and light.