There is widespread fear among Afghan Christians as the Taliban take over the country for the first time in 20 years. Many of the Christians fear they will be killed for apostasy or that their churches and places of worship will be forcibly shut down.
In an interview with the International Christian Concern (ICC), a charity that aims to protect Christians in vulnerable situations, a church leader spoke of the fear among the community.
He states:
"They want to be safe. They want to be protected so if they come to my area, 'I will tell them everything that I know so that when the Taliban come then they somehow spare my family. They don't hurt me'. The Taliban come in the area of the mosque, ask how many members of the household are part of that and they take names of all of the people who live there. Places like north of Afghanistan, Taliban control some of the areas, having a beard is compulsory. Taliban come to houses. They ask for food. They ask for money. Some of them are known that they have been Christian."
"Definitely, they're going to kill some of the Christians that have been known, and that way they want to spread that fear that we will not tolerate anything against that. Definitely for Christians, it's just an obvious thing that they're (Taliban) going to take all of their kids and they have to go through the retraining of that system and marrying the Taliban. And for the boys, they have to go be reeducated in the madrassas and definitely they will be trained as (Taliban) soldiers forcefully."
"Definitely we trust in the Lord and pray that He is sparing His people. We believe in God and we believe that as Christians we know there is persecution. Every Muslim background believer like myself that converted to Christianity knows the consequences of conversion. Islam is very clear, for the apostasy it is death. And there is no mercy on those people. God has a purpose and a plan. He knows what's best for His children in Afghanistan."
The Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001, before it was overthrown in a NATO invasion, installed strict theocratic rule, which stopped women leaving the home without male chaperones and forcing them to completely cover while in public. They also executed thousands for alleged blasphemy or for opposing their rule. It is feared that this strict rule will be reimposed in the near future. A Taliban spokesperson has already said music will be banned in the country.
[h/t: CBN News]
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