American evangelist Franklin Graham has urged believers to pray for the “thousands of people desperately trying to escape from Afghanistan,” including Afghan Christians and up to 15,000 Americans as well as their allies. Graham, son of the late legendary preacher Billy Graham, appealed “after the country’s fall to the Taliban” group, which he called Islamic extremists.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the West not to interfere in Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul, amid signs that China and Russia are increasing their footprint there. The authoritarian leader said Western nations “must stop the irresponsible policy of imposing foreign values from abroad.”
Western allies of the United States struggle to respond to the Islamist Taliban group’s return to power in Afghanistan amid reports of killings and thousands fleeing the country. They also expressed concerns about the situation at a just-concluded virtual meeting of foreign ministers of the NATO military alliance.
Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban group declared the nation an “Islamic Emirate” Thursday, prompting more protests in which several people were killed, footage showed. Zabihullah Mujahid, the group’s spokesman, announced the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on social media with a photo of the country’s new logo.
The United Kingdom’s Parliament on Wednesday held President Joe Biden in contempt for his withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, calling the move “catastrophic” and “shameful.”
Although Afghanistan is desperately poor, the Taliban now rule over a nation with nearly $1 trillion worth of mineral deposits that the world needs to manufacture clean technologies, CNN Business reports. Experts have said that Afghanistan has the natural resources to become one of the region’s richest countries within 10 years.
Afghanistan was moving closer to civil war Wednesday after its former First Vice President Amrullah Saleh declared himself the country’s new leader and, backed by a resistance movement, vowed not to surrender to the ruling Islamist Taliban group.
The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group on Tuesday called the conduct of the United States during the Taliban’s conquest of Afghanistan “the moral downfall of America.”
Ousted Afghan President Ashraf Ghani surfaced in the United Arab Emirates Wednesday, while his nation was in turmoil with people being killed or injured during evacuations and in protests against Afghanistan’s new Islamist Taliban rulers.
The Pentagon on Wednesday acknowledged that it does not currently have the capability to safely escort Americans in Kabul to the airport for evacuation as the Taliban consolidate control in Afghanistan’s capital.
Islamist Taliban militants ruling Afghanistan have begun executing Christians who refuse to renounce their faith, a well-informed Christian broadcaster said Tuesday.
Emboldened by perceived U.S. weakness in the region, China rushed to send warships and fighter planes near U.S.-backed Taiwan which it regards as a renegade province.
Rights groups, including Release International, are warning that the persecution of Christians in Afghanistan will likely intensify now the Taliban have taken power and the US and NATO have withdrawn, Christian Today (CT) reports. The Afghan church had been driven underground by Islamic apostasy laws even before the Taliban takeover, but the situation is now reported to be “dire.”
Afghanistan’s Islamist militant Taliban group pledged Monday that it would “respect the rights of women” if they respect its strict interpretation of Islam. “They can work and have education within Islamic law,” said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid during his group’s first press conference since taking control over Afghanistan.
The Taliban have taken over Afghanistan and local Christian pastors facing the threat of intensified bloody persecution are standing in faith while calling on the worldwide Body of Christ for prayer. “God has a purpose and a plan,” an Afghan pastor told International Christian Concern (ICC).
Hungary and Bulgaria broke ranks with the European Union on Monday as the only EU states not to sign a declaration calling for all Afghans wishing to leave to be allowed to do so.
In response to the Taliban re-conquest of Afghanistan, Hamas on Monday congratulated the Afghan people for “defeating” the US.
U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday that the takeover of Afghanistan by the Islamist Taliban group went more quickly than anticipated. Still, he defended his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from the war-torn country. “American troops should not die in a war that Afghans are not willing to fight for themselves,” he told the nation in televised remarks from the White House.
Heartbreaking reports emerged Monday of Islamist Taliban fighters going house-to-house to find people who supported the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan.
U.S. President Joe Biden was to return to the White House on Monday to deliver long-delayed remarks on Afghanistan, the White House said.