Insiders: Don’t Expect the Taliban to Change
As they patrol the streets of Afghanistan, victorious Taliban forces and officials insist they’ll restore order and make people “happier.” But the organization’s strict interpretation of Sharia law could jeopardize much more than citizens’ happiness.
Adding to human-rights concerns, Taliban fighters took control of weapons and military equipment that had been in U.S. hands. And prior to Afghanistan’s fall, a swap resulted in the release of about 5,000 Taliban prisoners.
In a statement, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expresses “grave concern” about the safety of women and religious minorities in Afghanistan. “As one of its first acts,” it notes, “the Taliban released leaders and fighters from various terrorist groups, including those who had claimed credit for several bombings and attacks on places of worship belonging to religious minorities.”
Back in 1996, the Taliban made a similar no-revenge pledge, Atlantic writer Graeme Wood points out. Sources tell him this week’s decisive victory is likely to result in a “much more strict, much more hardline” rule. A Kabul resident ominously tells Wood he expects Taliban forces to “treat their success as a reward from God for having shown no mercy.”
Please keep praying for our Christian brothers and sisters in Afghanistan.
