THE US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan is complete and total. Today, Afghanistan is totally under the control of the Taliban except maybe in the Panjshir Valley area. This is one of the most difficult times in the history of Afghanistan for religious minorities in the country, especially Christians.
According to an estimate, there are roughly 10,000 to 12,000 Christians in Afghanistan. And, almost all of them are secret believers or underground Christians.
VIDEO: How to pray for Christians in Afghanistan?
According to the Open Doors World Watch List, believers in Afghanistan live in the second worst country for Christians. Afghanistan secured the No. 2 slot behind the authoritarian regime in North Korea due to the practice of honor killings and apostasy laws.
The situation in Afghanistan was already extremely dangerous for Christians due to a number of factors important among them being the practice of honor killings and the existence of apostasy laws.
“[Conversion] is considered in the Taliban’s eyes to be apostasy that must be punished with death,” said the former head of the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom and current director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, Nina Shea, in an interview with Christian Today.
“It is impossible to live openly as a Christian in Afghanistan,” concluded the Open Doors report. “Leaving Islam is considered shameful, and Christian converts face dire consequences if their new faith is discovered. Either they have to flee the country or they will be killed.”
However, it’s not just Christians who are at risk in Afghanistan. According to the 2016 Report on International Religious Freedom – Afghanistan “other religious groups, mainly Hindus, Sikhs, Bahais, and Christians, comprise less than 0.3 percent of the population.”
Global Christian organizations such as Open Doors and International Christian Concern estimate place the number of Christians between 8,000 and 12,000, less than .01% of the 38 million Afghans who make up the total population, all of whom are in need of prayer. Agencies
