Displaying items by tag: Afghanistan

Shortly after UK armed forces minister James Heappey had warned of an imminent terror attack, and had called on those queuing outside Kabul airport to move to safety, two explosions rocked the area on 26 August, leaving a number of casualties and throwing evacuation efforts into more turmoil, days before President Joe Biden's deadline for the USA to leave the country. At least 13 people including children were killed and many others were injured in what Taliban sources described as a suicide attack. Defence secretary Ben Wallace said a ‘better option’ for fleeing Afghans would be to travel across the land border. Christian charity CARE said that the current situation in Afghanistan is a recipe for a human trafficking disaster. Afghan women, fearful of life under new political leadership and aware of attacks on their rights, will want to escape oppression and may, in desperation, turn to illegal means of leaving the country. Many who are promised a better life will end up falling into modern slavery, whether that means commercial sexual exploitation, forced labour, or domestic servitude. See

Airbnb is offering free housing to 20,000 Afghan refugees globally and is seeking more assistance from hosts who rent their property through the accommodation-sharing company. Samaritan's Purse, the Christian humanitarian group led by Franklin Graham, is responding to the situation in Afghanistan by partnering with other organisations to get men, women, and children out of the country. They are sponsoring flights which have carried hundreds to safety. Open Doors say Afghanistan is the second most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian, after North Korea. Most Afghan Christians are converted from Islam. Pray for God to protect the thousands of Christians in hiding in Afghanistan. Ask God to provide permanent accommodation and living costs for Christians recently rescued from Afghanistan into neighbouring and distant countries. Ask Him to provide the fearful and anxious with peace of mind as they settle into completely unfamiliar environments and possibly need to learn a new language.

The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) has thousands of fighters in its Panjshir valley stronghold but wants to pursue negotiations with the Taliban before fighting. Amrullah Saleh, who was vice-president before being ousted by the Taliban, is now in Panjshir. The region successfully fought off Soviet forces in the ten-year Soviet-Afghan war and the Taliban in the 1990s. The NRF forces are led by Sandhurst-trained Ahmad Massoud, with many local resistance forces and US-trained ex-Afghan soldiers joining them. The mountainous valley, known for its natural defenses, has never been under Taliban control, partly thanks to Massoud's father, a notorious guerilla warrior. The NRF believes that for lasting peace it must address the underlying problems of a country made up of ethnic minorities, none of which is a majority. The NRF's ultimate goal is a decentralised form of governance in the country.

Women, girls and minorities considered most at risk in Afghanistan will be prioritised in the proposed resettling of 20,000 refugees (5,000 this year) in the UK. Boris Johnson said Britain owed a ‘debt of gratitude to all those who have worked with us to make Afghanistan a better place over the last twenty years. Many of them, particularly women, are now in urgent need of our help. Home secretary Priti Patel said, ‘I want to ensure that as a nation we do everything possible to provide support to the most vulnerable fleeing Afghanistan so they can start a new life in safety in the UK.’ Christian MP Ian Paisley Jr has asked for all British missionaries to be returned from Afghanistan. He said, ‘There are 228 missionaries currently under sentence of death who need to be taken out of Afghanistan, as well as tens of thousands of others.’ See

Afghan students offered scholarships by the UK government to study here from September will not be able to take up their places this year as the British embassy could not finish paperwork in time. One student said, ‘When we really need it, you are taking it away. I don't believe it will be deferred for a year. If you cannot make it this year, how can you make it next year?’. See Archbishop Justin Welby said, ‘The tragic failures we are witnessing in Afghanistan and their devastating impact on men, women and children demand prayer and urgent humanitarian action’. Kitty Chevallier, a British charity worker, said she felt immensely lucky to have escaped on an evacuation flight but it is tragic that some of her Afghan friends are still stuck in the country’. Pray for Afghans whose chances of leaving are small and who have so much more to lose.

Previously midwife Nooria regularly discussed treatments for locals with male doctors at the clinic she works in. But now male and female meetings are prohibited by orders of the Taliban. When she goes out she has to wear a burqa, and a male has to accompany her. Men are not allowed to shave their beards - the Taliban says this is against Islam. Barbers are prohibited from giving foreign-style haircuts. Everyone is frightened. The Taliban have taken up positions in most villages. Locals can't escape them. Armed fighters walk through the streets morning and evening, knocking on doors and demanding food. A group within the Taliban, called Amri bil Marof (order the good), is imposing a two-strike rule. First a warning, second a punishment - public humiliations, prison, beatings, lashes.

Two days after the Taliban captured Kabul, Iran's foreign ministry said its embassy continues its normal operations. Its consulate in Herat, close to the Iranian border, also remains fully operational. Iran's embassy is among a handful of foreign missions still open, including the embassies of Russia, China and Pakistan. All have signalled possible recognition of an emerging Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. In the midst of the withdrawal of American and foreign troops from Afghanistan, Tehran hosted Taliban and government delegations in an effort to be a key player in the political scene. Iranian officials and state-funded media face accusations of attempting to ‘canonise the Taliban’. The move is not welcomed by the Iranian public or pro-reform papers. Iran's social media is inundated with messages of solidarity with the ‘betrayed’ Afghan people. Individual Iranians are volunteering to adopt abandoned Afghan children.

Barnabas Fund reports, ‘Afghan Christians are at huge risk. As American troops leave the country, Taliban fighters are expanding their area of control, especially in rural areas, and re-imposing their ultra-strict form of sharia as they go. By the end of August the last Americans will have gone, but in mid-July the Taliban already claimed to control 85% of the country. What is certain is that Afghan Christians, as converts from Islam, will be even more vulnerable under Taliban rule than under the Afghan government. The Taliban has publicly announced that Christians must convert, leave, or be killed.'

The UN reported the number of Afghan civilians killed or hurt has sharply increased since the Western coalition began pulling out of the country. A total of 1,659 civilians were killed and 3,254 injured in the first half of 2021, a 47% increase from the same period in 2020. The actual numbers may be even higher, considering that the UN only records casualties it is able to verify independently. Out of those killed or maimed, 46% were women and children. The Taliban and other militants were responsible for 64% of civilian casualties, while 25% were attributed to pro-government forces and 11% to ‘crossfire’ between warring parties. An alarming trend of growing death toll since May reveals the highest number since the UN began keeping records in 2009. If this violence is not stemmed, an unprecedented number of civilians will perish or be maimed this year.

Afghanistan and its neighbours have spent decades relying on the US and NATO to resolve the country's problems. Wikipedia reports there are up to 18,000 Afghan Christians (3,300 from a Muslim background) practising their faith secretly in the country. Displacement and suffering experienced by those forced to flee their homes and communities is not new for the brave people of this land. Escalating conflict recently has resulted in thousands of new displaced people being registered each week. Around 327,000 people were displaced in 2020, 80% of them women and children. Now that foreign troops are almost gone, security and peace are going with them. The Russians and Chinese fear the further destabilisation of Afghanistan by the Taliban will spill over to five neighbouring Central Asian countries which have their own history of jihadist violence.