The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, completed with the fall of Kabul on Sunday 15 August, creates great danger for Afghan Christians, all of them converts from Islam or the children of converts.

If they are caught by the Taliban, they are very likely to be killed. Although the Hanafi school of sharia, which predominates in Afghanistan specifies death only for adult sane male apostates from Islam (with imprisonment for adult sane female apostates), the Taliban’s track record of an ultra-strict interpretation of sharia means it is very likely they will kill all apostates, both men and women, and probably their children too.

Those who were unable to escape from Kabul airport during the evacuation are highly vulnerable to being attacked and killed by the Taliban. 

It appears that most Afghan Christians will need to make their way overland across a border somehow. Afghan Christians are facing very difficult decisions, and Barnabas Fund is working hard, through Operation Safe Havens, to find options to enable Afghan Christian families to reach a place of safety and security.

Barnabas Fund