'A kingdom issue': Christian leaders share how believers should pray for Afghanistan

By Jeannie Ortega Law, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, August 19, 2021

Afghan people sit as they wait to leave the Kabul airport in Kabul on August 16, 2021, after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan's 20-year war, as thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the group's feared hardline brand of Islamist rule. | WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

Christian leaders are asking believers everywhere to unite in prayer as the Taliban has taken over large portions of Afghanistan, leaving the Christians and other minorities in the country susceptible to severe persecution.

Taliban fighters infiltrated the Afghan presidential palace after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. The takeover came as the United States pulled troops out of the country after having forces in the Middle East country for nearly 20 years.

Although the Taliban has vowed to impose a more reformed approach to governing, many are fearful that the Taliban, which refers to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, could institute a form of shariah law.

A Church leader in Afghanistan says the extremist group will “eliminate the Christian population” in the country.

"Right now we fear elimination. The Taliban are going to eliminate the Christian population of Afghanistan," a leader who disguised his identity told CBN News in a recent interview.

The leader is among thousands who have come to faith in Jesus Christ over the past two decades.

"There weren't a lot of Christians 20 years ago during the Taliban time but today we are talking about 5,000 to 8,000 local Christians and they live all over Afghanistan," he said.

Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, Christain leaders worldwide are sending instructions on how Christ's followers should pray for those at risk.