NEW DELHI, Aug. 31 — Afghanistan's ruling Taliban closed the offices of two Christian aid groups today, continuing a crackdown on workers accused of proselytizing.
But unlike the case of Shelter Now, in which 24 aid workers were arrested earlier this month, no one was immediately taken into custody.
Rather, Taliban officials said foreigners with the two agencies — the International Assistance Mission and Serve — had been given 72 hours to leave the country.
No employees of either aid group were available for comment, with many of them said to be heading for the Pakistani border; nor were the Taliban saying much other than to confirm that they had shut down the two organizations.
"No one is left here, and we are not allowed to let any foreigners in," a Taliban guard told reporters who went to the gate of the International Assistance Mission, an American- based group that ran two eye hospitals and several clinics. "All foreigners left this morning after we closed the offices."
For weeks the Taliban have asserted that the Shelter Now case was merely a part of a "larger conspiracy" by aid groups to convert Muslims to Christianity. But while this latest action expands the number of agencies involved, the tactics used this time by the Taliban were relatively restrained.
Reuters
An official of the Taliban, the Muslim militia that governs Afghanistan, ordering a photographer to stop taking pictures outside the Kabul office of Serve, a Christian aid agency, which was shut down on Friday.