Afghan Christians have grown weary in Afghanistan, as they are faced with the choice of persecution in the hands of the Taliban or escaping, which is also a challenge in itself.
Ever since the U.S. withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in August 2021 and the Afghan government fell, Christians in the country have been fearing for their lives. To this day, Afghan Christians are at risk for intense persecution, as the Taliban criminalizes Christianity, so severely that they even sentence gospel believers to death. But leaving Afghanistan also brings another set of challenges.
International Christian Concern recently spoke with an Afghan Christian by the name of Abdul, who was recently released by the Taliban after spending months in prison after an attempt to escape Afghanistan. After experiencing torture in the hands of the Taliban that threatened to capture him again, he became a different person.
"[Abdul] suffers from fever, chills, and a sense of panic," a source close to his family reported. "He reported that the first month, the Taliban torturers would bite him. The second month, they would put him in cold water at night and then leave him naked. The third month, they did not torture him, apparently wanting to sell him alive to his family without the evidence of torture. He does not leave the home where he is [now] staying."
Abdul's account of torture in the hands of the Taliban is just one of the many that Afghan Christians experience since Afghanistan came under their rule last year. All Afghan Christians were converted from Islam, a choice that the Taliban considers worthy of a death penalty. Because of this, many have fled the country. But the trauma is still with them.
"When I was in Afghanistan, I was the commander of one of the parties during the war fighting against the Taliban," an unnamed Afghan Christian said. "After the war, the Taliban found me, and I was arrested and imprisoned for six months. I had to escape to Turkey by myself and then try to find a way to bring my family."
Persecution haunts Afghan Christians who manage to escape Afghanistan, for a range of reasons. For one, some of them escape to another Islamic country where Christians are unwelcome or discriminated against. Sometimes they do not speak the language of the country where they seek refuge in and rely on other refugees for support. They are also unsafe from Taliban threats. One Afghan Christian who escaped to Iran was kidnapped and brought back to Afghanistan as part of a deal someone made with the Taliban.
"With help from my uncle, we were able to secure passage. Along the way, we found ourselves on the border, where my husband suddenly disappeared. Without warning, my husband was no longer by my side and there was no way to find any news of what could have happened to him," a female Afghan Christian who experienced something similar said. "I suspected that the Taliban might have been involved with his disappearance, but there is no way to know."
Despite the challenges, however, many Afghan Christians remain hopeful in Christ. One Afghan Christian rejoiced in living "in the shadow of Jesus," where he felt "hope for life and heaven and the resurrection," despite his "external circumstances."
Foreign Policy reported this week that violence continues to intensify in Afghanistan eight months after the U.S. withdrew all of its troops in the country. Many are concerned that Afghanistan may once again become a "hub of instability and terrorism across South and Central Asia and beyond."
