stepped up attacks against Christians, including slitting the throat of a Muslim clerk for spreading Christianity, BosNewsLife learned Friday July 9.
An Afghan intelligence official told the Voice of America (VOA) Friday, July 9, that his agency was able briefly to make contact with Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, who has been on the run for American forces since 2001 for his alleged involvement in terrorism.
The intelligence official, Abdullah Laghmani, said Mullah Omar was contacted through a telephone taken from a captured former Taliban functionary.
U.S. troops in Afghanistan have aggressively hunted for Mullah Omar and for his ally, Osama bin Laden, who heads the al-Qaida terror network. News about Mullah Omar’s ability to evade capture was expected to add to frustration among coalition forces and fear among Christians and moderate Muslims as the country is experiencing Taliban related violence.
SLIT THROAT
In one of the recent incidents, a Taliban spokesman told the Reuters news agency that guerrillas had slit the throat of Muslim cleric Maulawi Assadullah on June 30 because he was propagating Christianity in the remote Awdand district of Ghazni province. Abdul Latif Hakimi said a group of "Taliban dragged out Maulawi Assadullah and slit his throat with a knife because he was propagating Christianity".
He stressed there was "enough evidence and local accounts to prove that he was involved in the conversions of Muslims to Christianity."
In addition the radical Islamic oriented Taliban group is also trying to stop the democratic process in Afghanistan ahead of upcoming elections later this year, human rights groups and Western officials say.
MINE BLAST
On Thursday, July 8, a mine blast in eastern Afghanistan linked to the Taliban killed another female election worker and wounded at least two other people. Police in Khogyani district of Nangarhar province said the victims were returning from registering female voters for upcoming elections Thursday when their car hit the mine.
The election was originally set for June, but was postponed to allow more time to register voters and demobilize unruly militias. Afghanistan said Friday, July 9, it had set October 9 as the date for its first presidential election to end two decades of war and authoritarian rule. A parliamentary election is set to follow next spring, VOA reported.
However Christians and Christian aid workers as well as others the Taliban suspects of supporting the U.S.-led efforts are bracing for more violence.
DOZENS KILLED
The Taliban has reportedly killed at least 33 foreign aid workers since the start of last year, including Frenchwoman Bettina Goislard of the U.N. refugee agency, who was gunned down in the town of Ghazni, the provincial capital, in November. Militants with similar views as the Taliban have also stepped up actions against Christians in Iraq.
In one incident two unidentified men injured a Christian woman when they threw a grenade from their car at the Holy Spirit Chaldean Catholic Church in the Hay Al-akha’a area of Mosul at 10:30 a.m. on June 26, human rights group Barnabas Fund reported Thursday July 8.
The injured woman, who was taken to hospital, is the sister of the parish priest, said Barnabas Fund, which investigates the plight of persecuted Christians in especially Islamic nations.
