Israel’s military is working hard to develop plans to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, the IDF Chief of Staff revealed on Wednesday, as Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made his way to Washington to discuss the Islamic Republic’s nuclear capabilities with U.S. President Joe Biden.
Traumatized by the invasion of ISIS in 2014, Christians in Iraq remain nervous of outsiders, International Christian Concern reports. Constituting one of the oldest believing communities in the world, the Christians of Bartella near Mosul are reportedly wary of the influx of new arrivals to their district.
Following the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban on August 15, Afghan Christians began fleeing to the mountains to escape the Islamist rulers, who reportedly have a hit-list of believers to kill and who are going door-to-door taking women and children, Fair Mission (FAI) reported.
Frail appearing U.S. President Joe Biden made clear Tuesday he would obey Afghanistan’s new Islamist Taliban rulers and withdraw American forces from the nation by the end of the month.
In a significant concession to Afghanistan’s new Islamist Taliban rulers, the U.S. said Tuesday it would not extend the deadline for evacuations beyond August 31.
Afghan Christians are calling for prayer and international advocacy as they are now targets for intense, violent persecution by the new Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, International Christian Concern (ICC) reported Monday. The most recent call for prayer came through Mission Network News.
Israel confirmed Tuesday that it launched airstrikes against Gaza after incendiary balloons launched from the Palestinian strip started fires in the country’s south. Militants of the ruling Hamas Islamist movement reportedly fired on the Israeli aircraft carrying out the raids, which destroyed a weapons manufacturing site and other targets.
A group of Christians in the self-declared Republic of Somaliland have been released from detention after charges related to alleged crimes against the state religion of Islam were dismissed following prayers, Christians said Monday.
Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban group said Tuesday that Americans must leave by August 31 and warned Afghans not to go to the Kabul airport or try to leave the country.
Deadly shootings erupted Monday in Kabul as the Islamist Taliban group warned that delaying an American presence beyond an August 31 deadline would “provoke a reaction.”
The NATO military alliance says at least 20 people died in the last week near Kabul airport in attempts to flee Afghanistan by plane after the Islamist Taliban group captured the capital.
While it has banned former U.S. President Donald J. Trump from its service, the social networking site Twitter continues to host accounts of high-profile officials linked to the Islamist Taliban group.
Embattled U.S. President Joe Biden says discussions are underway about keeping American forces in Afghanistan after his August 31 deadline for completing the U.S. withdrawal as thousands, including Christians, struggle to leave the Islamic nation.
Taliban fighters ruling Afghanistan have begun hunting for Afghan girls to marry while seeking to kill journalists, Christians, Hazara men, and people who worked for the U.S.-led military, several sources say.
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.
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.
Christians in Iran meeting mostly in secret house groups to avoid detection by police face new challenges as the Islamic government seeks more internet restrictions, according to sources familiar with the situation.
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.
In addition to being continually attacked by Islamic terrorists, Christians in Nigeria are persecuted by the government as well: a pastor’s son was shot to death in Borno state last week by government officials sent to demolish a church building, Christian Today reports.
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.