Many Afghans are terrorized by the Taliban's takeover. That's the case of the family that Allen Ehsani is trying to help from Rome.
ALLEN EHSANI
“Five days ago, the father was arrested, captured. The others fled because they were identified as Christians. (They told me), 'Now that the Taliban have arrived, we'll be the first to be forced to pray at the mosque. Or they will kill us because we are Christian.”
Allen Ehsani has lived in Rome for 17 years. He was born in Afghanistan in 1989, but he fled the country when the Taliban killed his parents for being Christian. He's worried that the story will repeat itself with the family he is trying to save.
ALLEN EHSANI
“I'm a Christian. I experienced that horror as a child, so I understand the suffering of these people. I understand what it's like to be a persecuted Christian in a country where there is no freedom of worship, no freedom of choice. I want something to be done immediately to save this family. They are in grave danger.”
Ehsani has been in contact with this family for six months. Because there are no churches in Afghanistan, he would sometimes video call them during Mass in Italy so that they could participate.
ALLEN EHSANI
“Every night they call me, they cry.... Yesterday they were supposed to be brought to Italy, but then they were told they had to wait. While I was on the phone with the girl, she suddenly fell to the floor, and I didn't hear anything else. Then about an hour later, she called me back and said that the Taliban were going into every house, looking for Christians.”
Ehsani calls on the international community to not abandon the people stuck in Afghanistan who are targeted by the Taliban.
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