Father Sequeira said “thousands of people are trying to flee” and are fleeing to airports. “The Taliban were shooting in the air and trying to control the crowd,” he said.
The priest ended his letter, saying, “Did we, the international community, invest so much and establish so much in the last 20 years just to hand it over to the Taliban in a matter of days?”
On Sunday, Pope Francis asked for prayers for the people of Afghanistan.
“I ask all of you to pray with me to the God of peace so that the clamor of weapons might cease and solutions can be found at the table of dialogue,” he said.
“Only thus can the battered population of that country – men, women, elderly and children – return to their own homes, and live in peace and security, in total mutual respect.”
Caritas Italiana, meanwhile, expressed fears for the safety of Christians in the country, warning that it may need to suspend its activities as instability increases.
The charity of the Italian Catholic bishops has been in Afghanistan since the 1990s and is currently focused on helping vulnerable minors.
The Italian charity has been supporting a large program of emergency aid, rehabilitation, and development in Afghanistan, including the construction of four schools and 100 houses.
The Taliban captured Afghanistan’s biggest cities in days rather than the months predicted by United States military intelligence earlier.
The UN Security Council called for talks to create a new government in Afghanistan after Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of “chilling” curbs on human rights and violations against women and girls.
During their 1996-2001 rule, women could not work and punishments such as public stoning, whipping, and hanging were administered.
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