Afghanistan’s Koh-i-Baba mountain area is inhabited mostly by ethnic Hazara people. By Danial – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43262398
Afghanistan’s small Christian community remains almost entirely invisible in international media reporting, despite the global concern that has arisen after the Taliban’s introduction of new laws permitting domestic violence and recognizing forms of enslavement.
An independent U.S. panel on international religious freedom has urged that Afghanistan be designated a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC). Christian Solidarity International (CSI) has received unconfirmed reports from local sources that now suggest that the situation for Afghan Christians may be extremely dangerous, including claims that an underground church was attacked in early January and that several Christians were killed.
The killing of Christians
Around 24 Afghan Christians from the Hazara ethnic community were killed near Bamiyan city in central Afghanistan in late January, a source in direct contact with that group has told CSI. The source said two girls were abducted during the attack and the house used for secret worship was burned down. While the identities of the attackers remain unclear, the source said that Taliban authorities had identified the group as converts to Christianity.
The larger Bamiyan region, where this city is situated, is historically associated with the Hazara ethnic group that is largely Shi’a Muslim. This community has long faced persecution from extremist Sunni groups that regard them as religious outsiders. The latest victims were Hazara converts who had secretly adopted Christianity, according to the source.
CSI could not independently verify the reported attack and killings. Strict restrictions on communication and close monitoring of communities by Taliban authorities renders any confirmation extremely difficult. However, if confirmed, the incident would be the most serious attack on Afghan Christians since the Taliban returned to power.
Being Christian under Sharia law
Christians in Afghanistan almost entirely consist of converts from Islam. Before the United States withdrew its troops and the Taliban seized power in August 2021, estimates suggested that about 20,000 Afghan Christians lived in the country, most of them practicing quietly in small underground fellowships.
Since the Taliban takeover, however, thousands have fled or were evacuated through international rescue efforts, particularly to the United States. No reliable data exists on how many Christians remain inside Afghanistan today.
Those who stayed behind now live under constant fear of exposure. According to sources familiar with underground church networks, believers frequently change locations, worship in small groups and avoid discussing their faith even with close acquaintances.
Thousands who fled to neighboring Pakistan remain in a precarious legal situation. However, many of them have been forcibly returned to Afghanistan amid the ongoing tensions between the two countries. For Christian converts, such forced returns create an especially dangerous situation because their faith may already be known within refugee communities.
Practicing Christianity is difficult because Taliban authorities closely monitor daily life to enforce adherence to Islamic decrees according to their extremely conservative interpretation of the texts. Men are expected to attend mosque prayers regularly, and those who fail to do so risk questioning or punishment.
This creates particular danger for Christians whose faith requires secrecy, said the source, explaining that believers feel compelled to attend mosque prayers with colleagues or neighbors simply to avoid suspicion. “If they do not go to the mosque with others, people may begin asking questions,” said the source. “That could expose them as Christians and put their lives at risk.”
The fear of exposure, which could lead to denunciation or extreme violence because conversion is considered apostasy under the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic law, dictates almost every aspect of life for Afghan converts. Under this interpretation, apostasy can carry the death penalty.
Restrictive environment
The larger political environment in Afghanistan, which has become severely restrictive for all communities since the Taliban consolidated power, indicates an extremely dangerous situation for Christians.
New legal measures introduced by Taliban authorities, based on their strict interpretation of Sharia, codify severe punishments and reinforce rigid social control.
One recent criminal procedure code approved by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada divides Afghan society into distinct social classes and introduces provisions that allow forms of enslavement within the justice system, according to Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.
The code distinguishes between “free” persons and “enslaved” persons and treats enslavement as a lawful status in legal proceedings. It also allows husbands and “masters” to carry out discretionary punishments on wives and enslaved persons, provided that the punishment does not result in broken bones or visible wounds. Human rights experts say such provisions entrench a rigid hierarchy in Afghan society and formalize systems of control that contradict international legal prohibitions on slavery.
United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk has warned that Afghanistan has become “a graveyard for human rights.”
For religious minorities, the danger is intensified by the Taliban’s claim that its rulings carry religious legitimacy. Taliban authorities maintain that their laws are derived from Islamic Sharia and dismiss international criticism as interference in Afghan cultural and religious traditions. In practice, this interpretation leaves little space for religious diversity.
Country of Particular Concern – CPC
For these reasons, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s (USCIRF) 2026 annual report has recommended that Afghanistan be designated a CPC. The report states that religious minorities, women and critics of Taliban policies face the most severe pressure. However, the Afghanistan chapter mentions “Christians” only twice, and only in general terms, most likely as the information is not available.
A designation may remain unlikely in the near term. Washington does not recognize the Taliban government as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, which complicates the formal designation of the country itself under mechanisms designed to sanction recognized states. The United States has instead designated the Taliban as an “Entity of Particular Concern” for severe violations of religious freedom.
Because Afghanistan already faces sanctions and diplomatic isolation, analysts say a country-level CPC designation in any case might carry only symbolic value.
Besides, the Taliban leadership has proven difficult for any country to influence because it derives its legitimacy primarily from its own religious interpretation rather than from international acceptance. Key decisions are concentrated within a small leadership circle around Supreme Leader Akhundzada. Its experience of fighting a two-decade insurgency has also reinforced a political culture that treats foreign pressure as interference instead of a reason to change policy.
Whatever the reasons behind the international community’s inability to help Afghan Christians, CSI’s source said believers, who now navigate an existence defined by secrecy and constant vigilance, feel abandoned by the world, particularly as humanitarian assistance for them also remains absent.
