Afghanistan (MNN) — Questions surround the Taliban’s ability to control Afghanistan following the latest Islamic State-K suicide attack. A large explosion – later claimed by IS-K – tore through a Shi’ite mosque in Kandahar during Friday prayers, killing at least 47 people.
Friday’s bombing, the third in 12 days, was the deadliest since United States forces left in August. It is also the first major IS-K attack in southern Afghanistan, raising concerns that the group is expanding its reach.
Voice of the Martyrs Canada CEO Floyd Brobbel says weekly terrorist attacks are probably the ‘new norm’ as the Taliban and IS-K battle each other for control.
A 2017 photo of Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan.
(Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
“Islamic militant groups don’t always [support] each other; they are all seeking power. We see them (IS-K) seeking to take control, and so they will play on the fears of people,” Brobbel says.
“The best way to play on the fears of people is to create instability through terrorist attacks.”
Afghanistan will be unstable as long as there’s a power vacuum, he adds.
“The U.S. forces withdrew; we saw the Allied forces withdraw as well, so there’s this power vacuum [in Afghanistan] and the Taliban have stepped in,” Brobbel says.
Find your place in the story
Ask the Lord to protect all religious minorities in Afghanistan – Christians and Shia Muslims alike. “We believe religious freedom is the underpinning of all other freedoms. Where there’s religious freedom, then the Gospel can go forward in even greater levels,” Brobbel says.
“Be praying for religious freedom [in Afghanistan] and praying for the churches, that they will grow and continue to be seen as salt and light in the region.”
Pray security units can identify threats so innocent people, whatever their religious affiliation, will live and have a chance to know Christ.
“They (extremists) look like your neighbors; they blend in, it’s not like you can see them coming,” Brobbel says.
Header image depicts a Taliban member with Blackhawk helicopter following U.S. withdrawal in August. (Wikimedia Commons)
