Crisis
in Afghanistan prompts warnings,
calls
for help and prayer
By Tom Strode,
WASHINGTON (BP) –
Calls from Southern Baptist leaders and others for immediate assistance, warnings
of devastating consequences for Christians and prayer requests followed the
rapid takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban.
The terrorist organization
that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 regained control of the country when
Kabul fell Sunday (Aug. 15) after a stunningly swift advance to the capital
city. The Taliban’s rout of any Afghan military resistance came as the United
States neared a complete withdrawal of troops after nearly 20 years in the
Central Asian country following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the
United States.
Particularly vulnerable
before the militant Islamic organization are Christians and other religious
minorities, women and citizens who helped the U.S. effort. Many Afghans are
seeking to escape, and the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul was
reportedly flooded Monday (Aug. 16) with hundreds of people as U.S. Air Force
cargo plans lifted American embassy workers and others to safety.
“What we are witnessing in
Afghanistan right now is as shocking as it is heartbreaking,” said Daniel
Patterson, acting president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
(ERLC). “Regardless of how one feels about the policies that led us to this
point, Christians are called to be a voice for the vulnerable. Clearly, a humanitarian
crisis is unfolding and both prayer and immediate action are urgently needed. “
The ERLC is working with
its partners at the Evangelical Immigration Table on a letter soon to be sent
to the Biden administration calling for it to assist Afghan refugees.
“We’ve joined this letter
to request our national leaders do everything possible to help those refugees
who are fleeing for their lives,” Patterson said.
In a statement issued to
Baptist Press, Paul Chitwood, president of the International Mission Board,
reported on the conditions in Afghanistan and called for prayer.
“With foreign troops pulled
out of Afghanistan, and the Taliban taking control of most of the country,
violence and fear continue to spread,” Chitwood said. “Thousands of people are
displaced; there are shortages in money and food, amid looting. Homes and
offices are being searched and seized; and people with means are desperately
trying to flee the country, most without success. Many small villages are
afraid of the devastation that would follow from a fight with the Taliban, so
they are willingly giving up control of their areas to save lives.”
Chitwood asked Christians
to pray “that God would intervene and glorify His name in this tragic
situation. Please pray for Afghan believers whose lives are being threatened.
Ask God to give them courage and strength and to help them be light to those
around them. Pray for seekers, asking that they will find God and put their
hope in Him, and that the millions of Afghans who have never heard the Gospel
will have an opportunity to hear. Pray as well for the neighboring countries as
they attempt to host the surge of refugees coming out of Afghanistan.”
Mindy Belz,
senior editor of WORLD Magazine who covered the conflict in Afghanistan, posted
Aug. 13 on Twitter, “A person who works with house church networks in
Afghanistan reports its leaders received letters last night from the #Taliban
warning them that they know where they are and what they are doing. The leaders
say they aren’t going anywhere. So it begins.”
On Sunday, Belz tweeted an update: “Taliban have visited several homes
of these identified believers but could not find them. Most do not have $$ or
access to the airport to leave. And again, they want to stay but it is hard to
see how they will survive.”
International Christian
Concern (ICC) – a Washington, D.C.-based organization that aids the persecuted
church overseas – reported Monday that the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul has
raised religious liberty concerns throughout the Middle East. Multiple
terrorist organizations, many supported by Turkey, have applauded the Taliban’s
success, according to the ICC.
In a written statement,
Claire Evans, ICC’s regional manager for the Middle East, said the “atmosphere
throughout” the region has changed with Kabul’s fall to the Taliban.
“The Middle East had just
entered the recovery stages following the defeat of ISIS, an ideology
predicated on the genocide of religious minorities,” Evans said. “Now those
same terrorists feel empowered by the Taliban’s resurrection and success in
Kabul.”
The Taliban’s action is
being “openly legitimized,” particularly by Turkey, she said. “This is
potentially a significant turning point for religious freedom across the Middle
East.”
The United States responded
to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist acts with a successful military campaign
against the network in Afghanistan behind the attacks on New York City and
Washington, D.C.
In February 2020, the Trump
administration negotiated a peace agreement with the Taliban that included the
removal of the U.S. military presence and that of its allies within 14 months.
The Taliban agreed to prohibit its members and other terrorists and terrorist
groups from using Afghanistan as a base to endanger the United States and its
allies.
In mid-April, President
Biden announced that the removal from Afghanistan of the remaining 2,500
American troops would begin May 1 and finish by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary
of the attacks on the United States. The Taliban’s aggression escalated in the
months following the inception of the American military drawdown.
Civilian casualties
increased dramatically in Afghanistan beginning in May after the withdrawal of
American and other troops began, according to a late-July report by the United
Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Almost as many casualties were
recorded in May and June as in the first four months of the year, the report
said. The Taliban was credited with 39 percent of the casualties, while 25
percent was attributed to other “anti-government elements,” according to the
report.
Christians are among
several religious minorities that face persecution in Afghanistan. The U.S.
Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a bipartisan panel of
nine members, said in its annual report in April the Hindu and Sikh religious
communities are nearly extinct in the face of mistreatment by extremists.
In its report, USCIRF
recommended the Taliban be retained on the State Department’s list of “entities
of particular concern” regarding religious liberty. The State Department has
not announced its list of countries and entities of particular concern for the
year.